Harry Potter and the Fallen Time
by yinyangsangel
Summary: They met during the summer and fell in love in those three years that they met. But their fates were already ending when they met, yet they clung to those fallen times and those memories. For life or death, their hearts are each others and they wait to be reunited. No matter how long it takes. Regulus x OC. M for later scenes.
1. AND THEY DANCED

It was England, Easter week of 1978. Deep in the Ministry's quarters, the sound of music of violins and loud talking echoed from the ballroom. Women in glamorous dresses, ones that echoed the muggle Victorian Era attire, stood around gossiping about the war, people receiving awards, and more of that nature while the men, who wore uptight glamorous dress robes, talked about their rising status in the political world, their trophy wives, and their accomplishments.

"Did you here? It looks like he is going to receive the award." A woman said to another girl. The other girl looked at her, forcing herself to look curious. Her light green eyes tried to shine in curiosity, but it was obvious she was bored as she pushed a light black strand of hair behind her ear, though the way her hair had been done that night, she knew it would fall back over her shoulder.

"Really? That's quite an honor." She said. The other girl sighed in annoyance.

"Honestly Cordelia, why don't you allow yourself to be involved in gossip?"

"Gossip is just hearsay. 'He said this' or 'She said that' or 'I heard', You can never really trust it." Cordelia replied. The brunette sighed again, annoyed with Cordelia's response, before tuning into what the others around them were saying.

"Speaking of which, haven't you also heard about The Dark Lord? Seems like a few others in your class have joined his army." One said looking at Cordelia, who looked merely unamused. It didn't really matter; she had no desire of joining these so called 'Deatheaters'. However the entire group she was surrounded by seemed distraught.

"There is so much of that going around as of late." One woman said fanning herself as the man that had escorted her there nodded his head, agreeing.

"More and more of the ancestral and noble pureblood houses are being roped in to the cause. While it is a noble reason, the Dark Lord's ways of making that a reality is quite deplorable." He commented and the girls all nodded, save Cordelia who merely waved her fan lightly to cool her face. It was so stuffy in here, crowded with Wizards smoking cigars, women covered in heaps of perfume, laughing and laughing as though there was nothing wrong in this world. Suddenly the talking that was in the group she was sitting in grew silent, and they were all staring at the entrance of the ballroom.

Cordelia turned to look over and saw a young man wearing darkened dress robes, perfectly normal. He seemed to be following an older couple, presumably the man's parents. It took her a few moments to recognize him.

"It's _him_ isn't it?" one of the women said. "Regulus Black? I heard he became a Deatheater last year."

"So young." The man commented. "Not even out of school yet."

"I wonder why he's coming here. He obviously doesn't have a date here, and is only here with his parents."

"Why would the Blacks come here at all? This gala doesn't seem to be their thing." One commented dryly. "Don't you agree Cordelia?" she asked.

"I don't necessarily agree with that." Cordelia said slowly, smoothing out the edges of the dress. The group now stared at her.

"Are you mad Cordelia? The 'noble house of Black'? Coming here for actual fun? They're dangerous." One of them hissed out. Cordelia laughed, staring at the group as though they were mad.

"Oh come off it. I doubt they are of complete danger." She said with an easy going smile, watching as Regulus separated from his parents with an easy smile, allowing his parents to mingle without him with high-ranking Ministry officials. The group that she was sitting with stared at her as though she was a loon before attempting to change the conversation.

However Cordelia continued to watch Regulus Black attempt to mingle with other women. However every time he got close to being allowed to have a dance with a young woman, someone would whisper to the said girl and she would politely decline. She continued watching the man till she was snapped out of thoughts.

"Cordelia?"

"Yes?" she asked, returning her gaze back to the group.

"Did you hear what I was saying?" the man asked. She smiled apologetically.

"No. I'm sorry." She said and he rolled her eyes, apparently used to this.

"I was saying that-"

"Excuse me. I need to go get some air." She said suddenly and without being excused, walked away. The group stared, one man looked amused.

"Typical of Miss Matlock." He said and the girls' rolled their eyes.

"So unaware of gossip. Her parents always kept her so cooped up and coddled out of society, raised in an uninhibited manner. She is unworthy to be a lady of Slytherin." The woman commented, and allowed another one of the girls at the gala to take Cordelia's spot.

* * *

"_Come with us Regulus. Make appearances Regulus. Why didn't I just stay at home?"_ Regulus thought blandly as he stood in the back towards the wall. It seemed like he was in a bubble, and everyone stayed away from him. Did they really fear his status? He knew that to everyone it was just a rumor…only his immediate family knew of his status as a Deatheater. But rumors were really the running power of this world weren't they? He sighed, resting against the wall. He didn't notice a young woman who had come back from retrieving a drink, only for her to see that her spot had been taken. She looked around and spotted a sofa seat next to him that was currently vacant. With a delighted smile she strode forward, apparently ignoring that the man who many of the women who she had been forced to listen to gossip, stood next to that seat. He only glanced down when she sat next to him.

He studied her. Her hair was a lighter black than his, the majority of her hair was held up by an extravagant rose embellished pin, the rest of what he presumed was her long hair fell down to her shoulders in loose curls. She wore a green Victorian styled dress, which unlike many of the other girls showed her collarbone and shoulders; a rather risqué look for a young woman. She glanced up, connecting her light green eyes to his grey and he automatically looked back out towards the crowd.

"Hello." She said simply, taking a sip of her drink. He looked at her in confusion, unable to speak. This girl was completely not afraid of him. She merely smiled at him, continuing to sip her drink. "Are you enjoying yourself? You seem rather bored."

"I'm not particular for the glamor of parties…" he said, not sure if she was one of the ones that had planned this.

"Aw the pain of having to make appearances." She joked, looking at him with enjoyment, scratching the theory she had come here for fun. "But even so Regulus Black, is there anything you don't enjoy other than studying?" she said and he balked for a second, before looking at her suspiciously.

"How do you…?"

"I do happen to go to Hogwarts. And considering that your brother no longer resides nor is he in the graces of your parents I do not honestly see him coming here willingly. Also you and your brother look different." She commented. He looked at her in confusion. Different? Every time he looked at a bloody mirror he could spot similarities that were shared by both him and his brother. But at the moment he didn't see it to be in the right place to ask her what she was talking about. He didn't even know her name.

"…may I have this dance?" he asked suddenly. She blinked and for the first time he had started talking to her, looked surprised and embarrassed. He frowned. Maybe she didn't want to dance with someone whose family was known as the most ancient and noble family. "Forget I asked."

"Oh no, I don't mind." She said quickly but then offered an apologetic smile. "I'm just an awful dancer." She said sheepishly. "Would that be alright?" she asked. He stared at her in surprise for several seconds before offering a soft smile.

"Of course." He said offering his arm to which she gently placed her hand on it standing. They walked to the dance floor that many couples were currently in. As they entered the throng of people, they politely bowed and curtsied.

"I believe this is the first time we've formally met." She said as she took his outstretched hand, moving gracefully.

"I believe it is. Are you in a different House at Hogwarts?" he asked as she twirled.

"Oh no. I'm in Slytherin just as you are." She said and he blinked, now trying to look at her closely. To recognize her. She offered a smile.

"Don't fret. I'm not a noticeable person." She said.

"Still…" he began to say, but was cut off when she tripped on his leg, nearly face-planting onto the ground. Thankfully he caught her before she did that. Her face was now a complete red.

"I'm so sorry." She apologized. "I did tell you I was awful." She added as he regained his hold on her hand properly. They began dancing again as the song continued.

"You weren't being modest?" he asked, moving her in front of him. She sighed, rather lamely.

"I did not speak untruthfully." She stated, her face once again red. He looked at her.

"Well…what is your forte?" he asked and she smiled, staring out in the crowd as they moved to the rhythm of the dance.

"I have none." She replied evenly. He gave her an amused look.

"There must be something…" he said, pausing for a second as though in thought. "Musical instruments?"

"I can't keep rhythm."

"Singing?"

"Tone deaf."

"Needlework?" he asked and she laughed.

"No. I can't sew a straight line to save my life." She replied as she twirled in a circle. He was silent at a loss with what to say. She stared at their feet.

"Oh. I know. Animals and plants." She said and he looked at her.

"You draw them?"

"No I raise them." She replied simply. He looked at her in surprise. She smiled brightly. "The other day some rabbits were born. They look so adorable, even if they are essentially bald and pink." She added. He looked at her, amusement flashing across his face.

"Rabbits are something you won't eat?" he asked. It would make sense. Who would eat something that they raised? However she shook her head.

"No, I will eat them…that and this are completely different." She said and he couldn't help it, chuckling softly.

"You are very straight-forward." He concluded and she offered a bright smile, as she turned to face him. However as she did this, he heard the openings of fans of the women who did not have a dance partner, who had locked onto him and were most likely whispering about the girl he was currently dancing with. He saw a quick flash of a camera—most likely coming from a reporter of the _Prophet_. Slowly he withdrew his hand from hers and stepped away.

She looked at him confused, her hand frozen from where it had originally been. "The song hasn't stopped yet…" she said and he gave her a bitter smile. He was used to the stares…but not willing to let a young woman he barely even knew to suffer because of him.

"We should stop…I'd rather not ruin your reputation." He said but she just laughed, pushing a strand of her hair behind her ear, before placing a gloved finger over mouth to stop her laughter.

"Oh my! You needn't worry about my reputation." She stated a sly smile on her face. "It wasn't that good to begin with, and I have no need to care about what others say about me." She said and he stared at her for a few seconds with an amused, surprised grin. However at that moment he heard his mother calling him. He glanced back at her before giving a slight bow.

"Well it seems my mother is calling me…" he said.

"So it seems." She replied with a soft smile.

"It was a pleasure to meet you Miss…" he trailed off and she chuckled.

"My name is Cordelia Matlock, Mr. Regulus Black." She said, a tone of teasing in her voice. "And the pleasure is all mine. I do hope we can meet again someday." She said.

"As do I." he said kissing her hand before leaving her on the dance floor. Her face was a slight hue of red as she watched the man with haunted grey eyes walk away, leaving her in the crowd of people, but yet she felt now lonely.

Later that night Regulus returned to his room. Kreacher entered, accepting his master's coat from him to be ironed later on, along with the rest of his master's and mistress's clothes of that evening.

"How was your evening Master Regulus?" the aged house-elf asked. Regulus sighed as he pulled off his tie.

"The same as usual." Regulus replied, sitting on his bed emitting a tired groan. "Absolutely dreadful."

"Kreacher gives Master Regulus his apologies." Kreacher replied. Regulus was silent for a few seconds as the image of Cordelia.

"No wait…" he said after a minute. "There was one thing…I didn't mind too much."

* * *

Sirius yawned as he exited the bedroom to his flat going to the kitchen and brewing up a cup of coffee—the only thing he could actually make that wouldn't cause a near fire hazard—flipping open the latest edition of the _Prophet_. He read the title page which stated _**'MINISTRY HOLDS EASTER GALA'**_ and withheld a chuckle. It must have been a slow day at the newspaper…or maybe they were just trying to hide the details of the war. One could never know nowadays. He glanced at the moving photo and had to do a double-take. Right smack dab in the middle, among the dancing women and men, stood his younger brother. Parallel of Regulus stood an unnamed girl, who seemed to have a quiet, amused smile on her face.

"Well what do you know…Reg got himself a girlfriend." He murmured, taking a sip of his coffee as he sat at the dining room table, his back turned from bedroom. He continued reading the article before being slightly startled by a pair of slender arms wrapping around his neck and someone kissing his cheek gently. He glanced up and smiled as his eyes latched onto a pair of light brown ones.

"Morning." Moria said, her voice heavy with sleep.

"Morning…what are you doing up? You normally sleep a bit later." Sirius said, kissing her neck. She purred sleepily.

"Because my human pillow and blanket suddenly vanished." She joked and he chuckled.

"Sorry 'bout that." He said. "I'll have to make it up to you." He added and she smiled.

"I can hardly wait…so…anything good?" she asked, glancing at the paper. He shook his head.

"Must have been a slow day." He said.

"Is that your brother?" she asked glancing at the photo. "Looks pretty happy in comparison to other photos of him and himself at school." She stated. He looked at her.

"How is it you can tell us apart? For all you know that could be me." He joked. She glanced at him teasingly.

"If you haven't noticed, your haircut is a big giveaway to the fact that that isn't you. Besides…I can see differences that most people can't."

"Really? How so?"

"Considering you're my boyfriend, and I have shagged you, I believe I know one or two things more than the average person." She joked. He laughed and kissed her gently.

"Merlin, you make me crazy." He said and she smiled.

"All part of my elaborate plan." She said and he laughed, his coffee forgotten as he stood and wrapped his arms around her, hoisting her up and walking back towards the bedroom, closing the door with a kick.

Then all was silent once again.

**SO HERE IS CORDELIA AND REGULUS'S STORY. IF YOU ARE KEEPING TABS WITH MY WEAVING LINES OF FATE STORY THIS IS AROUND PART TWO'S STORY LINE. THERE WILL BE AN OCCASIONAL MORIA AND SIRIUS PART IN THE STORY, BUT IT IS MOSTLY REGULUS AND CORDELIA'S.**


	2. SUMMER

It had been a rather quick end to the Hogwarts year. The summer was growing hotter. Regulus grumbled as he felt sweat trickle down the middle of his back. They had gone to a summer house of his mother's friends. No one near here he knew, though they were aware of him.

A Deatheater.

He gripped his left arm tightly as he continued his walk around the woods. Trying to feel normal…trying to run from his regret.

His humiliation.

"Mistress Cordelia! Where is Mistress going?" a frantic house-elf said as she followed the young woman who had pulled an umbrella from the stand.

"Mistress musn't go alone anymore. Let Gerda come with you!" the little house-elf pleaded in a high-squeaky voice. Cordelia turned with a soft smile and patted the elf's head.

"I prefer to walk alone." She said, leaving before Gerda could protest anymore, walking quickly out, past her grandmother's garden, and into the forest. She sighed in satisfaction, breathing in the country air as she listened to the birds chirping and singing merrily in the tree.

"What a beautiful day." She murmured, staring at the shadows casted by the trees. She looked towards the road when she heard the sounds of footsteps coming towards her. She blinked when she spotted a man walking up. He paused midstep, staring at her with searching grey eyes. It didn't take her to long to realize who it was and she smiled.

"If it isn't Mr. Regulus Black." She said, her voice light and carefree. "What brings you out here?" she asked as she walked up to him.

"Miss Matlock." He said, surprised.

"Please…just call me Cordelia. Miss Matlock reminds me of my mother." Cordelia said amused. Regulus was stunned for several seconds. A lot of people ran away from him at first sight. He then smiled.

"Alright…Miss Cordelia." He said. She smiled lightly and then continued on her walk, turning when she realized he was just watching her.

"Do you wish to accompany me?" she asked, her voice coy. He blinked several times, then nodded.

"Sure…why not?" he said, catching up to her.

"So…if I wouldn't know it, you live here. But I'm well aware of people who live here."

"Oh, I don't. My mother, father, and I are borrowing one my mother's esteemed friends summer cottage."

"Ah…so I'm presuming that you will be returning to London." Cordelia said, her voice quiet; almost melancholic.

"Not till the beginning of school actually. Though I probably will have to go every now and then. Why, would you miss me if I did?" he joked, sticking his hands in his pockets. She blushed slightly.

"It is lonely by myself up here. I'm the only person my age here." She responded. Stunned they continued walking silent, listening to the singing of the birds and the rustling of the leaves. "Do you like the forest? She asked.

"Yeah…it's quiet."

"There are the birds." She stated pointing at the trees. He chuckled.

"True…but at least they never gossip." He stated.

"Perhaps they do." She said softly. He looked at her and saw she was staring at the trees, smiling as the birds flitted around.

"Oh…and what do they say?" he asked. She smiled, closing her eyes softly as though she was actually listening to the birds chirping and sounds and trying to decipher what they were saying. Her smile grew and became relaxed.

"Alright, here is what I think they are saying…_'you know that Mr. Black? The youngest you mean? Yes that one. He's not what everyone says he is.'_" She said and he stopped in his tracks, staring at her, his right hand suddenly going to his left arm. She however, seemed unfazed by this.

"'_People are afraid of his demeanor, so stone like. But I think they're wrong. I think he's rather sweet, though a bit shy.'_" She said and he stared at her. She laughed.

"Is…Is that what they really tell you?" he asked, stammering slightly. She offered him a sympathetic smile.

"I don't know if that is really what they say, and it might be a bit biased on my part." She said. "But that's what I think." She said. He stared at her almost in confusion and shock.

"Biased?"

"Mr. Regulus Black. I know about your Deathmark." She said and his face paled. But then she shook her head. "I also watched that every time people would walk or scamper away, you would grip your left arm. You show guilt in your face. You hide it well at school, among your peers that share your views, but the moment they are gone the guilt…the shame returns. And it's growing…and growing." She said, turning to look at him and brushed her hand over his forehead. He bristled at the touch, unused to anyone touching him. However she merely smiled.

"You don't have to hide from me. As you can tell, I am able to see those emotions hidden. And if I wanted to, I would use that against you." She said. "But I won't." she added upon spotting his pale face. "I have no reason to."

He was silent for several minutes just looking at her for several minutes, contemplating her. He then sighed.

"I now understand why you were placed in the Slytherin house." Was all he said as he continued following her, listening to the birds chirping merrily. She smiled slyly.

"Why thank you Mr. Regulus Black." She said, chuckling softly to herself as she continued walking. He heard softly humming a nameless tune, slightly off-key.

And smiled as well.

* * *

"So I heard you went out on another walk Cordelia." An older man said as he read an article on the _'Daily Prophet'_, glancing up at Cordelia who sat at the living room table. She looked up from what she was writing, her face stone.

"Yes father."

"May I ask why you were spotted with the youngest Black child?" he asked. The elderly woman who was using the rocker nearby looked up.

"Andronicus, give your daughter some credit. I doubt if she didn't trust him, she would be near him." The woman said. Andronicus glared at his mother with steely green eyes. However another woman, this one sitting in the chair parallel to Andronicus, her light black hair pulled into a tight bun.

"Cornelia, Andronicus is right to worry. The amount of dark magic that the Blacks are known for using is quite a danger. Especially to Cordelia. She's so fragile-"

"Mother, just because I have a weakened immune system doesn't make myself weak." Cordelia snapped slamming her book shut, before storming off to her room. She sighed as she went to her room. It looked like a greenhouse, filled with plants and sleeping birds that were resting in their cages.

"Young Mistress wishes to go to bed?" Gerda asked in a high pitched voice. Cordelia sighed before nodding.

"Yes Gerda, can you fetch my nightgown?" she asked.

"Greda shall do so." The house-elf said delightfully, going over to the closet. Cordelia sighed staring out the window, pressing her hand to the window, staring at the moon.

"Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary…" she said quoting the poet she had begun to like. His mind…so dark and twisted…yet so misunderstood. "Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore." She murmured, glancing down when the house-elf reappeared holding up the nightgown. Cordelia pulled it on her and after thanking the house-elf and watching her leave, sighed and laid down.

"Quoth the raven, `Nevermore.'"

**AS YOU CAN SEE CORDELIA AND HER PARENTS RELATIONSHIP ISN'T REALLY THAT MUCH.**


	3. SUMMER KISS

The summer days were passing slowly in the countryside of Britain. Soft, warm breezes flowed through the green trees, birds tweeting and flying through the trees as well, hidden in the leaves. Butterflies, followed as well, fluttering through the grassy fields landing every so often on a flower, mingling with other insects that were flying around. Laying in the field was a pair of young adults, the male of the two asleep, while the female was sitting there watching the clouds, before glancing down at the man with keen light green eyes. She smirked.

"_I didn't know someone could fall asleep listening to someone talk about an Edgar Allen Poe poem."_ Cordelia thought as Regulus shifted, and rolled to his side, still asleep. Humming another unnamed tune, she began to pick the wild-flowers, braiding the stems together, repeating the process until she had made a chain of flowers. She was taken out of her thoughts when she heard a low, pained mumble and glanced back down at Regulus, frowning when she spotted that his face had grown paler, his features tortured, shaking slightly. Gently she bent down, placing her hand on his shoulder.

"Mr. Regulus Black." She said and he sat upright quickly, pulling out his wand, aiming it at her. She froze and sat there, her expression hidden. He was panting, a curse on the tip of his tongue until he realized who he was aiming at. His features paled further and he stood, backing away from her.

"I-I'm so sorry."

"It is alright." She said, standing as well, advancing towards him. He however backed away waving his hand as though to say 'stay away'. She did not heed the warning, instead merely clasped his outstretched hand with her own. "Mr. Regulus Black, it is alright."

"I could have killed you!"

"But you didn't. And that is what matters is it not?" she asked. He let out a long, withheld breath.

"I don't understand you." He finally said, and she chuckled.

"Not even my parents understand me, I would not expect you to." She replied. He just leaned against the stone wall that fenced the nearby road.

"I am still sorry for what happened. I was having a nightmare…"

"Of the past perhaps?" she asked, walking to him and standing next to him. He ran a still shaking hand through his hair.

"It doesn't matter."

"Yes it does. Even if you awaken from a dream, the memories will remain. That cannot be changed. It is a burden" She said softly.

"Then what I wouldn't give to forget my memories…to quell these nightmares. To remain in a dream…a guilt free dream."

"I do not think that would be wise." She replied and he looked at her oddly.

"You just said that-"

"While I did say that memories will remain even when you dream…even if they are a burden, they are necessary." She said. Suddenly she climbed onto the stone fence, extending her arms as a strong breeze flung her hair out, causing it to billow around her. She smiled softly looking up at the sky.

"Humans can't live without memories, you know." She said, folding her arms to her chest, closing her eyes. "Imagine if we could not remember the faces of our loved ones, of places we loved. We would live in a confused, unloving existence." She said, her voice soft as the wind, but still seeming to echo into the empty field. She opened her eyes again glancing down at Regulus. "Still, we can't live on memories alone." She reprimanded. "To live only in your past, reveling in what you did before. To dream of what had happened long ago, bad or good. We have to awaken from our dreams eventually." She said. "Because dreams we don't awaken from eventually become etched in sadness, going mad of what could have been, filled with countless what ifs." She finished. "It is a balance that must be kept just that…balanced." She finished, still standing on the divide, the wind fluttering

"…what are you?" Regulus finally asked. Cordelia laughed.

"A rather odd girl." She replied with amusement.

"You aren't odd. It's just…I've never met a girl that is from Slytherin that is like you." He said, offering his hand, which she accepted and jumped down.

"Yes, but it seems that I was never really fitting for any of the other houses. Slytherin seemed to fit me best." She said. "Besides…loners seem to migrate there."

"Loners? Name one other than yourself." He suggested. She glanced at him.

"You." She said simply, staring at the sky again. He blinked in surprise and then frowned.

"Why would you think that?"

"Your eyes. Even if you are surrounded by your…friends…your allies…you still seem lonely, merely keeping a charade of compliance to please those around you." She said separating from his hold. "But that is merely my observation. And an observation can be wrong." She said, glancing back at him. He was silent. In some aspects, what she had said was true. In the beginning he did feel like he belonged. He was with people who he felt had a common goal. To rid the wizarding world of the muggle-born vermin and to bring it back to the honor of only pure-blood witches and wizards. But…as the years had progressed and he had _witnessed_ the types of punishments that Voldemort and his loyal followers were willing to do to muggles, squibs he had begun to falter. Yes, he wanted the world to be where wizards and witches were only made for those who had been born from the ancestors…but killing every single witch or wizard that had no relation seemed…wrong.

"Tell me…what do you think of muggle-born witches and wizards?" he asked. She turned, her eyes turning surprisingly cool. He wondered how many people had asked her this question. Judging by her reaction, apparently a lot.

"While I don't care much of their company, I don't believe they needed to be hunted down like common rats and killed like cattle or pigs going to a slaughter house. Something that the so called 'Dark Lord' and many of his followers blindly do." She replied, her voice even. He visibly flinched, before growing defensive.

"But they do not have the blood of the original witches and wizards in them. Muggles have hunted our kind _down_ because we were different and can do things that they only _dreamed _of doing!" He stated, his voice angry. She crossed her arms.

"Tell me, what makes what the Deatheaters are doing to muggle-born witches and wizards any different than what muggles did to our kind, centuries ago?" she asked. He opened his mouth, before immediately closing it, unable to come up with an answer. "They are different yes. But that doesn't mean that muggle-born witches and wizards or muggles in general deserve to be killed. In many ways they are like us." She said.

"_How_ in the world are they like us?" he said.

"Tell me, do we breathe air?" she asked suddenly. He looked at her confused.

"Yes…but what does that-"

"Do we bleed?"

"Of course we do. What does this-"

"Do we die?" she asked. He looked at her curiously.

"Yes. Eventually we do. Why?"

"Barring our magical abilities, what makes us any different than muggles?" She asked. He blinked, remaining silent. There was no answer to this. None at all. "I do not see the reason of killing innocent people, to torture them, to hurt them merely because they are different. And I do not mean just muggles and muggle-born witches and wizards. I mean everyone on this planet that thrives and lives. We are all linked by one common trait. We are human. Magic or not." She said, her voice calm and collected.

"But still…"

"Many people consider me a blood traitor for this belief…tell me if some Deatheaters dragged me in front of you, would you cut me down because my beliefs do not follow yours?" she asked.

"Of course I wouldn't!"

"Even if you were ordered to by the honor of the 'Noble House of Black'?" she asked and he froze. She smiled almost bitterly. "I believe I have my answer." She said, turning to leave.

"No."

"Hm?" she asked, looking at him strangely.

"No…I still wouldn't." he said, looking at the ground, before glancing up at her. He at first was amused by her expression. She looked shocked, clearly not expecting that he still would disobey orders. She had apparently grown used to listening to people berate her for her beliefs.

"Really?" she asked, confused and surprised. He walked up to her and pushed a strand of her hair behind her ear, earning a slight blush.

"Yes. Now then." He said, clearing his throat as he let his hand fall. "I better get you home before your parents believe I stole you. They clearly do not like me." He said and she laughed.

"They do not like anyone."

* * *

It was nearly dusk, by the time they had arrived back to the Matlock cottage. Cordelia took a few steps ahead of him before turning. "I am sorry for the way I acted earlier." She apologized.

"Don't be. I was the one who asked."

"I was brutally honest."

"Very few people I know are. And that is not a bad thing." He said. She smiled, which he could see even in the growing shadows. An awkward silence grew, before he coughed uncomfortably.

"Well…I better be going insi-" she began to say but stopped when he leaned forward and kissed her cheek.

"…Good night Miss Cordelia." He said softly, before swiftly turning and walking back towards the road, scratching the back of his head.

"_You stupid, idiotic moron. Could you not grow enough courage to at least kiss her? Who the hell did all that go to? Oh wait…Sirius is the Gryffindor of the family…probably him."_ Regulus thought bitterly to himself. He of all people had wimped out. He of all people-

"You missed."

He turned in surprise. Before he could react he saw Cordelia was now back in front of him.

With a coy smile she grabbed the collar of his shirt, and went on her tiptoes at the same time, pulling him down and promptly locking her lips over his. He blinked several times to make sure he wasn't dreaming this…because this could be a very, very, _very_ elaborate dream. After realizing that it wasn't and that she was indeed kissing him, he returned the kiss, finally getting his arms to move and wrapped around her waist, pulling her closer.

After a few seconds they finally parted and Cordelia had a lazy, almost victorious smile.

"Goodnight Mr. Regulus Black." She said moving away from him. He stood there stunned and shocked. Before smiling slightly. He pulled her to him and kissed her gently, and quickly.

"Goodnight Cordelia." He murmured before stepping away from her and walking, almost waltzing away and back down the road. Cordelia stood there before a bright smile grew on her face.

* * *

Later that night both pairs lay in their respective beds, in their parents minds, already asleep. For Cordelia this was true. She had fallen into a deep sleep, curled up on her side, clutching her pillow tightly to her. Her face was flushed with red, a small smile was plastered on her face. A tired, soft laugh escaped her lips.

Regulus however couldn't sleep, he lay in his bed, staring up at the ceiling, looking at the shadows of the trees that were stretching across the ceiling. Gently he touched his mouth. He could still feel her mouth against his, hear the tiny sounds she made when he pulled her closer, feel her warmth against him.

He let out a low sigh, rubbing his face roughly, trying to calm his still rocketing heartbeat, but it seemed to be of no avail.

"_Merlin…"_ he thought as he watched as the shadows of the trees swayed in the invisible wind, stretching the limbs of the trees in weird designs on the ceiling. _"What is this woman doing to me?"_

__**HEEHEE...POOR REGULUS CAN'T ADMIT HE IS FALLING FOR HER.  
**


	4. BLACK LAKE IN WINTER 1978

Cordelia sighed as she continued down the path around Hogwarts. The memories of the summer that she had had that year stayed in her mind nearly every minute even though it was now close to winter. After she had kissed Regulus in the shadows of her home, he had avoided her like the plague.

"_I was too brash…"_ she thought absently to herself. But he had kissed her back…didn't that mean anything? No probably not. She breathed in the harsh scent of winter, the cold air burning her nasal passages and she pulled her robes closer to her, trying to suppress a shudder. She was freezing cold but she didn't want to go back to the Slytherin common room. There was a party for the victory against whichever team in Quidditch…again. She hated those parties. Instead she was walking around the outskirts of the Black Lake. She was quiet, enjoying the silence.

Silence had always been her ally, her comfort, her friend. Silence could not judge her, would not hurt her. Silence was always there. Silence had always been there for her as a child as she played in the gardens surrounding her parent's mansion…what choice had she had then, what choice did she have now? Slowly she walked towards the dock, being careful to miss the rotted areas—which grew in size as she walked farther out—listening as the water sloshed against the beams that held the dock in place, heard even under the thin ice. She smiled. It was so cold that she could see her breath…yet not cold enough for the ice to be thick enough to skate on. Slowly she began to dance on the dock, allowing herself to imagine soft music, being mindful of those weak spots on the dock.

She wondered if this was what it was like for a princess in those muggle books she read felt like as they waited for Prince Charming to arrive on their faithful steed, dressed in armor and the woman offering a white handkerchief to him. No…that was silly. She was no princess. No knight would come for her. Besides what woman would be daft enough to wait for a man who could never arrive…wouldn't it be better to find your true love by yourself? Wouldn't it hurt less? She stopped spinning and she looked down, watching her reflection of the ice in the dim lighting of dusk.

"_A lady of the Wizarding World does not speak until spoken to."_

"_Cordelia, get out of that tree! Honestly I did not raise my daughter to be a wild child!"_

"_Behave!"_

"_You will wear this dress!"_

"_Do not dance like those commoners of the muggle world, Cordelia!"_

"_You only dance when asked to and you will follow his lead."_

"_Otherwise you will stand upright and still."_

"Do everything to please your parents…become someone so covered in their mask that they can't be sure who is real." Cordelia said. "That is your path you have to go down." She added softly.

"HEY!"

Startled by the voice Cordelia turned, accidentally stepping on a piece of the rotted wood. She barely managed to get out a quick scream before the wood shattered under her weight and she pitched backwards falling into the icy water. She shot up in seconds, gasping for air but it seemed that nothing could reach her lungs which seemed to have frozen the moment she crashed into the water. She sunk for a second and swallowed water, choking her. She began to cough violently as she attempted, rather weakly, to reach up to the dock with a frozen and numb hand, but couldn't reach up far enough. She vaguely heard footsteps running up on the dock, before she began to sink again. This time she made no attempt to struggle back to the air, to the surface.

Suddenly a larger hand gripped her numb wrist and dragged her back up to the real world, and she felt another arm wrap around her chest, dragging her back onto the dock. Her body suddenly was hit by another shock. The cold air wrapped around her, freezing her, chilling her to the very bone. She coughed violently, dragging into shuddering breaths in between each cough.

"What the bloody hell were you doing?" the voice asked and she looked up, connecting with the grey eyes that she had grown accustomed to seeing in the summer. Regulus looked absolutely panicked as he gripped her tighter.

"W-wha-at a-are you t-talking a-about?" She hissed out, her body shivering violently. "W-why d-did you y-yell? Y-you scared me to d-death!" she cried out, trying to look angry. It failed as he dragged her to him, wrapping his arms around her back and squishing her close to him. She dragged in violent breaths as her body reacted to the warmth, gripping him tightly as her shaking violently grew, but whether it was by the mere touch or the actual cold she couldn't be sure.

"Sorry. Oh Merlin, you're ice cold." He said. She offered a weak and stammering laugh.

"T-try f-falling into a l-lake in the middle of w-winter. Y-you lose your b-body heat e-exceptionally quickly." She stammered out. He cursed and to her surprise began to undo his own winter robe. "Y-you're wet t-too, M-Mr. Reg-gulus B-Black. K-Keep it."

"You're soaked to the bone Cordelia. Don't worry about it." He said, pulling his robe off and placing it on her shaking shoulders, synching it around her neck. She inhaled sharply and he sighed, running his warm hand that was slowly growing cold across her cheek. He then picked her up, bridal style.

"W-What are you-"

"You're soaking wet Cordelia. You'll either get hypothermia or frost-bite on your feet. And I'm not willing to let you go through that." Regulus replied. Cordelia was silent and made no comment as he trudged back to the castle, only letting her down when they reached the castle. Then—still holding her hand—they walked down the Slytherin House. They entered the common room, and to Cordelia's relief the party had tapered off, and there were no one in the common room. Regulus guided her to sit close to one of the fireplaces which she did willingly, pulling his cloak closer around her as she sat down, putting her hands in front of her and near the fire, warming her shaking hands slightly. Regulus sat down next to her. She was silent as she looked at him.

"How… have you been?" he asked slowly.

Cordelia shrugged. "Alright, I guess. You?"

Regulus sighed. "I've been better."

There was a long moment of silence. Eventually, Cordelia asked, "Why were you walking around Black Lake?"

"I wanted some fresh air." Regulus answered. "If you remember from that Gala last summer, I'm not big on parties…even if it is to celebrate a victory in Quidditch." He explained. There was silence once again.

"…you don't have to sit here with me…" she said, her voice soft. He looked at her.

"But I want to."

"Why? You've been avoiding me for months." She asked. He visibly flinched and looked away. They were silent as she stared again at the fire.

"I'm sorry…for the way I've been acting." He said after a few minutes. She looked at him quickly, shocked. "I…I know you didn't deserve that. You at least deserved some type of explanation." He said and her face grew red; she kneaded her hands together and then took a deep breath. She nearly flinched when he touched the base of her neck, cupping it.

"You needn't worry about my feelings." She said; her voice short.

"I know I don't. But I do worry…" he said. Her grip tightened on her hands…"Cordelia. Look at me." He said his voice soft and almost pleading. She wanted to resist…but she had no will power and turned, looking at him. "I'm sorry about avoiding you. I had a lot on my mind when the kiss…" he trailed off and she swallowed. "When we kissed…I had a lot on my mind right then…and I didn't react the right way…"

"Which part? Returning the kiss, giving me a kiss before you left, or avoiding me?" she asked. He flinched.

"The last part…" he said and she blinked.

"I don't know what to do…or what's going to happen." He said. "But I do know that I miss talking to you." He said and she stared at him in shock. He smirked. "Were you expecting something different?" he asked.

"In all honesty, yes." She said. He looked down.

"Gee thanks. So understanding relationships was more my brother's forte…I'll admit that." He murmured and she let out an airy laugh.

"Well your brother is infatuated with a woman at this moment…so I might agree to that." She teased and he finally smiled.

**THIS IS A SLOW CHAPTER. BUT IT'S MORE CUTE THAN ANYTHING  
**


	5. FEVER

Cordelia slowly woke up, blinking weakly. She felt tired as she sat up looking around, staring at the view of the bottom of the Black Lake as fish swam around and the seaweed danced in the invisible currents. She pushed back her black hair behind her shoulder as she got out of bed, fighting a wave of dizziness as she bent down to the drawers under her bed and retrieved her uniform. She wondered what the other bedrooms looked like of the other houses. Surely not the same. Slytherin essentially lived under the lake therefore the beds were located on the interior wall. The outside wall was the common room while the beds faced Black Lake. Which had been cool when she was younger and would stay up late trying to see Merpeople, or even the squid swim past, but with no luck.

The Slytherin dorms were straight in line, five or four beds in the room, and she and the rest of the Slytherins had a bed that was covered with a thick green comforter and had dark gray curtains on the bedposts. They also had a wardrobe (which Cordelia put her other clothes in) a trunk at the foot of their bed (where Cordelia put her book supplies in), and drawers under the bed. Even though they were pressed against unforgiving rock and a window that showed the lake, it was still a comfortable temperature due to a spell on the windows that kept the cold out and the warm in.

But right now it was too warm for her tastes. Though she didn't see anyone else acting like it was too warm. Maybe she was just imagining it?

"_Do not tell me I'm getting a fever. I do not have time for one. I have two exams today." _She thought bitterly as she slowly buttoned up her shirt, her body feeling languid. Ignoring the ache in her body and the general dizziness she walked out and went to the Great Hall for breakfast. But her appetite did not spark at the materialization of food, and she picked at her food, eating some of it but leaving most of it untouched.

She continued to seemingly drift through the classes. She felt like she was in slow motion, unable to connect with the world. She pressed her hand to her forehead as she made her way through the hall, being followed by another Slytherin, one of her roommates, who frowned.

"Cordelia? Are you alright?" the girl asked. Cordelia swallowed trying to concentrate.

"I…I…" she began say but the edges of her eyes suddenly began to darken. The voices around her fade and merged into a blur. She didn't sense herself falling, nor did she hear the scream of fright as she collapsed into a heap onto the ground. She just faded into darkness.

* * *

Regulus glanced up from where he was leaning when he heard the sound of someone falling. It perked his interest for a second before he returned to reading his homework for potions. He glanced up again and frowned when he heard someone screaming and then a loud cluster of voices.

"Quick, someone get Madame Pomfrey!"

"Did she faint?"

"Is she DEAD?"

Regulus sighed, looking back down. It was best to stay out of something like that. Whoever it was would probably be fine. He was sure of it. Actually he was positive that they would be fi-

"CORDELIA, WAKE UP!"

At that his head snapped up, as he felt his heart plummet and his stomach turn. At first he thought that he had imagined it. But the panic was now flooding into him as he jammed his parchment into his bag, before hurrying towards the sounds of a mob of people. He turned around a corner and saw the cluster, along with several teachers that had begun to push themselves through the crowd. He followed suit and nearly dived into the crowd, weaving through it. Finally he managed to get to the center and felt his heart shoot up to his throat as he spotted the form that the teachers had surrounded.

"Let's get her to the Hospital Wing." he heard Pomfrey say and watched as Hagrid, who had hurried over, pick up Cordelia's limp form. She looked so…small…in comparison to the gatekeeper who now held her. He heard McGonagall beginning to shoo everyone away, to send everyone who had stopped to watch on their way. He stood there frozen, watching until Hagrid disappeared around a corner.

* * *

Cordelia was curled up on the bed, trying to sleep. That simple fever had turned out to be pneumonia, which she was lucky to have only gotten a mild case of according to Madame Pomfrey. Pomfrey had suggested that she be sent home. She worried about Cordelia's health. But Cordelia had steadfast denied that. School was almost over, she could survive a few more weeks in the castle before having to go home. At first Pomfrey had argued, but eventually conceded. So now Cordelia slept in the hospital wing. Or trying to sleep at least…

She hated her immune system. Whatever had happened when she was born, whatever her mother had done before that, she had been the one to take the punishment. Her parents hadn't known what was wrong with her. She was always getting sick as a young child, more often than many children their acquaintances had achieved, she was sluggish and rarely liked to go out and play when they lived in London. They had gone to many healer, potioneers, but to no avail. She would be fine for a little while before another illness plagued her. Finally her grandmother, in sheer desperation, had taken her to a muggle doctor. He—of all people, a simple muggle—had figured it out that her immune system was horribly depleted and it had been a miracle she hadn't died early on. He had been the one that suggested living out in the countryside, full of fresh air and where the population was sparse, and therefore, the amount of illness and sickness was also sparse. A complete change from the overcrowded polluted London.

Her parents had argued, but nevertheless they moved to the country. And she had flourished there. Out in the woods she would stay outside till nightfall running and playing with the animals and rolling in the fields. Her parents hadn't thought too highly of that and after a few years they began to bring tutors to train her into a 'sophisticated upper class witch of the Ministry'. They had tried, desperately, but the constant training was a double-edged sword. While she had learned to be a sophisticated woman, she found a majority of things that women of the Ministry were boring and meaningless. She would still run around in fields, laying out in the sun till the night darkened the stars, came out, would dance in the rain, anything to make her feel alive.

Anything to break the bonds that her parents had tried to seize her in.

* * *

Regulus was staring at the ceiling of his room. He could see the slight light reflection coming from the waves of the lake that was pressed against his window on the ceiling, could hear his dorm mates snoring, some quietly, one incredibly loud. But it wasn't the snoring that was keeping him up. He was too used to the snoring for it to bother him.

She shouldn't be bothering him like this. She was alright. He had heard some of her dorm mates' gossip about it. She was just a friend.

"_Boy…you're fooling yourself if you're trying to say she's just a friend. No one panics to the degree you did when you heard that scream. You care about her much more than a friend. The sooner you admit it, the sooner this confusion will end."_ a voice in his head concluded. He withheld a loud groan as he ran his hands over his face roughly. He wouldn't deny it, he cared about her. But he didn't…he couldn't…

"_Yes you could you childish fool. You LOVE her."_ the voice said. This time he let his breath out in a slow hiss and sat up. Clearly sleep was going to allude him tonight, and instead he got up, pulling on some clothes and a pair of shoes. Then quietly he began the slow and hopefully stealthy trek out of the Slytherin house and down the corridors. How his brother had done this so…easily…confused and worried him on so many levels. He had had to avoid near a run in with Filch once and had had to be quiet when passing the sleeping portraits. Finally he made it to the hospital wing. Only to be stopped by Pomfrey. Internally he began to think of an excuse.

"Mr. Black, what are you doing here at this hour? I should go get Slughorn this instant and-"

"I'm sorry Madame Pomfrey, but all of a sudden my stomach started hurting. I think I'm getting a cold." he said quickly, wrapping his arms around his stomach. That switched her attitude quickly and she tsked.

"Well then I'll get you some Pepperup Potion and then you should be on your way _back_ to the Slytherin tower."

"A-Actually can I stay here? I don't really feel like getting caught by Filch and-" he began to say but apparently didn't need to say anymore as she sighed, apparently used to that excuse.

"Very well, but please be quiet while you're settling in. Miss Matlock is still resting."

"Yes Ma'am." he whispered out and quietly walked into the wing, carefully slipping into one of the beds near Cordelia, glancing at her. She seemed to be asleep, much to his disappointment as he forced himself to take a few tiny sips of the potion. Apparently satisfied Pomfrey left, leaving him in the silence.

"You know most boys would not fake an illness to stay here, Mr. Regulus Black." a voice said and he glanced down to see those light green eyes staring at him. Cordelia offered a soft smile.

"Hey…aren't you supposed to be asleep?" he murmured, glancing at the door to see Pomfrey gone.

"Tried…but couldn't. What are you really doing here?" she asked sitting up in the bed. "Because you sure don't sound sick from a cold."

"I am awful at sneaking out of the dorms alright…I don't know how Sirius did it so well…"

"But you are smart about lying." She murmured. He chuckled.

"I suppose I am." He said. "How are you feeling?"

"Better. Magical healing for pneumonia is more advanced then muggles, but it still needs more healing. Technically the virus is gone, but my lungs are still healing. I'll be right as rain before we go home for the summer though." She commented. He glanced and saw that Pomfrey had returned to her office, most likely going back to bed. Quietly he got out of the bed he was in and sat down at the foot of hers. She blinked and then smiled.

"Was Mr. Regulus Black worried?" she asked in a teasing voice. He let out a low chuckle.

"Actually I was. You don't know how you looked when you collapsed."

"Near death I suppose. The negative side of having a weak immune system. I was pushing myself too hard." She said. He was silent.

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Of course."

"Why do you call me Mr. Regulus Black?" he asked. She sighed, leaning back into her pillow.

"It was the way I was taught. A lady must not address a man or a person of a higher class by their first name, or of their last name, instead address them using their full name." she replied softly with a shrug. He was silent.

"There was something I needed to talk to you about."

"Something important I assume?" she asked.

"Yes…it's something I definitely needed to tell you. Look…I you know what I am…you know who I associate with are dangerous people.

"Yes."

"And yet you're willing to talk to me, you aren't scared of me?" he asked. She frowned and then tentatively grabbed his hand with her own.

"No…because you are not your allies. You are you." She said softly. He slowly withdrew his hand before cupping her cheek. He watched in slight amusement as her face turned a slight hue in the darkened lighting.

"…I think I'm in love with you." He finally said and her face turned a bright dark red. He chuckled.

"Can I ask something else?"

"I…If you must." She replied, stuttering slightly.

"Can you call me by my first name? Just my first name?" he asked. Her face began to glow a deep shade of red and he saw her swallow roughly. She glanced down at her lap before looking back at him.

"Regulus."

He hadn't expected him to actually enjoy listening to her say his name. Just his name. Whenever she had called him by his full name, it reminded him of his lineage, what he was doing, what he had become. But hearing just his name made him feel…normal. Like he was just a kid that should be worrying about his OWLs and NEWTs, not worrying about what was going on. He loved the way she rolled the R of his name, how each syllable of his name sounded as heavenly as the star that he had been given as a name when she voiced it. He swallowed and coughed roughly, running a thumb over her bottom lip. He felt her shiver, though he knew that it wasn't because of her being sick or of the potion that was running through her system, battling the virus.

"Again." He said his voice low as he leaned in slightly.

"Reg-"the rest of his name was cut off as he kissed her. She blinked in shock for a second before her own eyes closed and she relaxed.

And for once in her life didn't mind her weakened immune system.

**REGULUS ADMITS IT!**


	6. PLANS

The summer trip back home had come rather quickly after that night in the Hospital Wing. While Regulus had decided that his and Cordelia's relationship would be kept quiet, as he didn't want anyone—not even his current friends—people who he would call an ally to turn on him and use her as their shield. Currently they were walking to Regulus's home after telling the man that had been there to pick up Cordelia that she was assisting him with bringing his luggage. He had immediately taken a step back in shock at spotting Regulus standing next to her before she hurriedly dragged him away from the stuttering man.

"It seems that your family isn't too keen with me." Regulus said as he dragged his own trunk behind him, she carried a smaller trunk. She offered an apologetic smile.

"My parents are….a difficult couple to please. I don't think even I can please them. The only time they were proud of me was when I was placed in Slytherin." She said. He frowned, brushing his hand over her bare arm. She offered a soft smile. "So where do you actually live? I can't believe your parents would live among muggles and have to communicate with them." She said. He chuckled.

"They don't know where we live unless **_we _**want them to." Regulus replied. She looked at him, an eyebrow rising as she smirked.

"Is that so?" she asked. He nodded, smiling handing a piece of paper. Glancing at him she then looked at the address of the paper.

"12 Grimmauld Place?" she murmured and then glanced up. She blinked in surprise when she saw a house that hadn't been there before.

"My father placed a bloody lot of wards over our house to protect it." He stated, grinning as he saw shock flash across her face, before it returned to her soft smile. "So…this is my home." He said.

"It is very different than my own." She stated, her voice soft. "But for a home in the city, it is really lovely." She amended. He smiled again and squeezing her hand led her into his home.

* * *

The feeling of darkness swarmed around her the moment she took a step in. She withheld the shudder that rippled through her, but gripped his hand a bit tighter. She looked up when she heard hurried footsteps rushing down the stairs. Seconds later, a woman about her mother's age appeared. She seemed strict, and Cordelia could see deep frown lines etched on her voice. Her hair had been pulled back tightly into a bun, and she wore a very Victorian-esque dress. Unlike Regulus however, she had deep nearly black eyes that seemed stone cold. The moment she spotted Regulus however, her cold demeanor changed and she pulled him to her in a tight hug.

"Regulus, welcome back home. I am so sorry that I couldn't have picked you up from Kings Cross, but your father once again overworked himself."

"He's alright isn't he?" Regulus asked suddenly, worry instantly in his voice. His mother nodded.

"He is fine Regulus. Just stressed. Now then why don't I…"she trailed off when she spotted Cordelia who was standing quietly by the door, her whole stance prim and proper. Cordelia offered a polite smile and curtsied slightly. "And who is this?"

"This is Cordelia Matlock. She's a…friend…of mine." He said, offering a smile from behind his mother's back. Cordelia smiled as well.

"Matlock? So you're Andronicus and Silvia's daughter."

"Yes Madam." Cordelia replied.

"Hm, I was not aware that they had moved back to London."

"We don't Madam; we still live in the country. I was just helping Regulus with returning his items to his home." Cordelia responded.

"Ah yes. We wouldn't want disgusting muggles to offer help, not like they would." Walburga said with a tsk. "Do you agree?"

"I do not prefer to associate with muggles." Cordelia responded, skirting the question. Walburga seemed to be analyzing her, before huffing and walking back towards the stairwell. Apparently she had passed whatever test Walburga had been giving to Cordelia. Regulus breathed an audible sigh of relief.

"Hell, she must be impressed with you. She didn't even start to bombard you with questions." Regulus stated.

"I come off as meek and she is probably aware of my weak immune system." Cordelia responded. Regulus glanced at her. That was probably the furthest of the truth. Cordelia was probably one of the strongest witches he had met. "So…" she trailed off glancing around.

"Right!" he said blushing furiously. "Come on, let's just…go upstairs." He said. She chuckled softly and followed him. As they walked up the stairs she could hear loud coughing, echoing through a hall.

"He sounds really sick." she commented. Regulus frowned, apparently just as nervous.

"He's been working too hard." he responded as they continued to the third floor. Finally they reached the room with the initials R.A.B. on the door and he entered dragging his trunk behind him, her holding a knapsack. She looked around his room. It was schemed to the color of Slytherin, everything green, black, and silver. The House of Black emblem had been painted right above his bedroom.

"How nice."

"What's your bedroom like?"

"I have a lot of plants and flowers in mine…not to mention a few birdcages." She commented as she opened the closet door to place the knapsack in. She paused when she spotted a muggle cap sitting on one of the shelves. After placing the knapsack down, she picked up the hat, retreating from the closet.

"What's this? I didn't think a muggle cap would be in your closet." She said teasingly. He glanced up from his trunk and then blushed.

"It's not mine."

"Really?"

"Yeah…Promise you won't laugh?"

"I wouldn't dream of it." She said sitting down on his bed with a smile. He sighed and sat down next to her.

"When I was six…I got lost after playing hide and go seek with my brother. And well…this is my only memory of the bloke who found me.

* * *

**_"Sirius! Sirius! Where are you?"_**_Regulus yelled out, looking around the street. He tried to hold back a whimper and rubbed his arm across his sleeve. He wasn't going to cry. He was six! Six year old boys __**didn't **__cry. But if anyone noticed they didn't come ask if something was wrong? And there was._

_He was lost. He had gone a few blocks from home, sure that Sirius would have done anything to win. But so far he hadn't found him, and he could remember which turn led him back home. Hopelessness suddenly grabbed at his emotions and he plopped down in the grassy junction between two homes and just began to sob. Maybe if he cried his mum would find him. It seemed like hours that he sat there, but in actuality was only thirty minutes. Suddenly he felt as though he wasn't alone. He looked up and saw that a form stood there at the entrance of the junction. The figure was clothed in baggy clothes, making it nearly impossible to differentiate the gender._

**_"Siwius?"_**_ Regulus asked, the name sounding weird from the stuffed up nose he was currently sporting. The figure gave no reply, instead turned around and continued to walk. But for some reason, instead of bawling Regulus stood and began to follow the person. There was no rhyme or reason, his mother had told him multiple times to not follow strangers, much less a muggle, but he was now desperate. This one person had been the only one to take the time to look at him. At first the child seemed to try and run faster away from him, which caused him to rush towards the figure, causing him to suddenly trip. He yelped as he face planted and looked up, expecting for the form to be gone._

_However to his shock, the form was still there…waiting, staring at him with brown eyes—the only thing he could see from the person that stood there. He hurried to his feet and began to race towards the person, who kept a steady jog ahead of him, waiting only when he fell time and time again. Finally Regulus was about to call it quits. He was exhausted, looking down at his feet. Suddenly he felt pressure on his head and saw another pair of feet in front of him._

**_"Good job. You made it." _**_A low—feminine voice—said. He didn't have time to see the face of his savior, because as soon as she had said that, the mysterious girl had turned and bolted down a corner, leaving only her hat on top of his head._

**_"Wa-" _**_he began to say, going to rush after her. However it was then he recognized the street. And the bawling woman in front of one house, surrounded by a boy older than him by a year, and an older man. _

**_"Mother?"_** _he called out. As expected Walburga's head shot up from her hands landing on his form as he began to cry again, rushing towards the trio._

* * *

"Wow…that's…incredibly lucky."

"I guess. My mother told me to throw the hat out, but I decided to keep it."

"That was a really kind muggle." Cordelia stated. "Kinder than many, I assume. Did you ever see her again?"

"No…I looked for her whenever we went out, but I never saw or heard someone similar again. Granted her voice may have changed a bit and looks most definitely, so it is probable that I'll never see her again." he said. She smiled apologetically.

"Stranger things have happened." she stated, resting her hand across his, squeezing it. He offered a slight smile, and her own smile brightened. Before she could react he gently pulled her to him, kissing her gently on the lips. She relaxed instantly and returned the kiss gently, cupping his face with her hands. She loved this. Amused by his hesitation, which was odd because she knew he had had other girlfriends before this. It had never been anything serious, but despite that, she had watched several Slytherin girls fawn and flock towards him. Some of them had been lucky to receive a date to Hogsmeade with him. And when she had walked by him and whatever girl he had been dating then, he looked so sure of himself. A part of her wondered if he was hesitant just around her, or he had been hesitant around the others. She hoped it was just around her, but knew she shouldn't get her hopes up.

Because hopes were meant to be dashed.

"Achoo!" Moria sneezed loudly barely managing to move away from the stove and shoving the pan away from her. Sirius glanced up half amused, half concerned.

"That's been what? The fourth time you've sneezed in the past thirty minutes. Are you sure you aren't getting sick?"

"I'm sure Sirius. Who's the healer between us?"

"You are but-"

"No buts' Sirius. I'm fine honest." Moria responded. She then smirked. "You know, I heard somewhere that when someone sneezes it means that someone is talking about them." She said, glancing behind her to see Sirius staring at her, frowning. Her grin grew.

"Looks like you might have some competition." she teased and heard him stand. She turned to see him now directly behind her and was glaring at her.

"Don't even joke like that." he growled out, picking her up by the waist and kissing her, smothering her laugh with his mouth.

* * *

"I can't BELIEVE you went to his home!"

"Mother please, he is a close friend. I do not think-"

"The Black family is **_dangerous _**Cordelia!" Sylvia shrieked. Cordelia rolled her eyes and continued to eat her food. Her parents had been ranting and raving about her visiting the Black house ever since she had arrived home. Currently she was doing quite well to ignore their rants.

"This will be the LAST time you ever speak to him!"

"Especially with what will be occurring later this summer! We cannot be having a man from the House of Black darkening our doorstep!" her mother hissed out. Cordelia finally looked up confused.

"What is happening this summer?" she asked, thinking back. Her parents had made no mention of any special events in their letters—as infrequent as they were—to her. Her parents looked at her and the moment she saw pride in their eyes, knew it was something she was not going to like.

"Why, your betrothed is to be chosen Cordelia. I met your father the same age you were. Granted you will be allowed to choose. But we have many selections-"

"I refuse."

Her mother stopped her speech and slowly turned, staring at Cordelia. Cordelia had now slowly stood from the table, her gaze at the table.

"Repeat that?" Sylvia asked, her voice slow and with a tint of malice.

"I said I refuse. I do not want to be married now." she retorted.

"Do not be ridiculous Cordelia. What woman wouldn't want to be married at a younger age?"

"Many mother. But you always fail to see those women as part of your caste so you ignore them." Cordelia responded. Sylvia's eyes hardened.

"You will do this."

"No."

"Yes."

"NO."

"You will do this for the honor of your-"

"I WILL NOT BE SOLD INTO A LIFE I HAVE NO DESIRE TO GO IN JUST FOR THE SAKE OF THE HONOR OF THE MATLOCK'S!" Cordelia suddenly yelled, slamming her hand hard against the table. "DO NOT THINK THAT JUST BECAUSE I CAME FROM YOUR WOMB I AM INDEBTED TO YOU! I AM MYSELF, I HAVE MY OWN LIFE! I AM NOT YOUR PUPPET!" She continued. She did not see Androncius stand slowly from the seat slowly advanced to her. "IF YOU WANT TO HAVE HEIRS SO BADLY, WHY DON'T YOU SELL ME TO A WHORE HOUSE? I'M SURE I CAN BIRTH YOU AN SUITABLE CHILD IN NO-" she was cut off as Androncius smacked her across the face. She stumbled slightly her eyes wide in shock. Never…never in her life had she been slapped. Threatened with it, yes, but never actually slapped.

"You will listen to me. And you will listen to me well Cordelia." Her father said, his voice low but even though it was guarded, she could hear barely controlled anger embedded in the voice. "This is not up for debate. We have been too lenient with you and your wild behavior. I have a place in this world." he said and she swallowed.

"And I think it is time you learned yours."

**I'LL LEAVE IT AT THAT FOR NOW 3 REGULUS CHILD PART INSPIRED BY FRUITS BASKET. WHO DO YOU THINK HIS FINDER WAS?  
**


	7. A DRUG

If her parents had expected her to yield to their wills by punishing her, they must have been fooling themselves. If anything she had rebelled further against the never-ending list of her possible suitors. She had been curt and cold to them, one ending up with a smack across the face as he passed his hand under her rear, as though she was just a cattle being sold. But as a result to that her punishments were severe. But nothing was as bad as the first beating she received. Thankfully most punishments were just loss of food or loss of going outside. But she didn't know how long it would be before the punishments grew worse and more personal to her.

She stared out the window, which was alive with the noise of rain tapping the panes of glass, curled up as her finger absently rubbed a bruise on her arm. It mirrored her mood exactly.

She wondered how Regulus was doing. She hadn't received any letters from him, and even he had sent anything, she was quite sure that either her mother or father had burnt them to ash. She sighed, resting her head against glass. How she wished she could be free like the rain.

But wishing could only get so far, couldn't it?

"Leave my loneliness unbroken!- quit the bust above my door!

Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door!"

Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."" she said softly trailing her hand across the window. She had always wondered which would be worse. To be the man who mourned for his lost love, or to be the Raven who could only say nevermore and showed neither pity nor despair? For the longest time she had always pitied the Raven for he was simply a messenger, a carrier of the message, only repeating the word 'nevermore'. But now she pitied the man who had lost his precious Lenore. How sad it was to be away from someone you cared for, unable to touch or hold. But there was one difference that separated her from the speaker of the poem. And that was, his Lenore had died, Regulus was still alive and within her reach, but she was chained away in this prison.

Only her dreams freed her from these chains. In her dreams she was just Cordelia.

* * *

Cornelia Matlock was old; she would give her son and daughter-in-law that. She had been old for years, though nowhere near as old as Albus Dumbledore or Nicolas Flamel. But even though she was old, she could see many things with her aged eyes. And one of them was her granddaughter wilting. The usual vibrant, playful, if anything else coy granddaughter she had watched grow up was melancholy, rarely smiling, and sat secluded in her room unless called down by her parents to meet another possible husband candidate. When that happened Cordelia would come down cold, and her eyes were like steel covered in ice, uncaring and unmoving in her ideals.

She didn't want to marry.

When she had been that age, even when Sylvia had been Cordelia's age, it was customary to be married young. But times were changing, and with the morality rate so high nowadays, the need to marry young and have children young wasn't as necessary as it was years ago. But as it was right now, Cordelia needed to leave her parents home before she broke.

"Cordelia?" Cornelia said, knocking on the door.

"Come in." she heard. Slowly she opened the door and spotted her granddaughter in her bed reading. She didn't even glance up.

"Cordelia dear, how are you?"

"My parents are attempting to sell me to the highest bidder for my hand, how do you suppose I feel?" Cordelia asked. Cornelia sighed. She didn't really have an answer for that.

"Darling, I was wondering if you could do something for me?"

"And that would be?" Cordelia asked, glancing at her grandmother.

"Well you see there is this celebration for one of my friends reaching her 60th birthday. It is apparently…elaborate. And you know Greda doesn't approve of me going to these parties by myself, feeling as though it will embarrass me." Cornelia explained and Cordelia stared at her, her face unreadable. "And I was wondering if you would accompany me?"

"Grandmother, I'm not-"

"It will allow you some time away from home, and away from your parents." Cornelia interrupted. Cordelia paused, her brows furrowing. "It will be good for you." she added. Cordelia was silent and then sighed.

"I wasn't going to be given much of a choice was I?" Cordelia finally conceded, closing her book. Cornelia smiled, almost just as coy as her granddaughter's normal smile was.

"Not in your lifetime my child."

* * *

"Do I have to mother?" Regulus grumbled as Walburga straightened his tie. Walburga glared at him.

"Yes you do Regulus." Walburga said. "It is just one party, and it won't kill you."

"_You said that when we had to go to the last party. And that one bored me to tears."_ he thought blandly but allowed his mother to smooth out the invisible creases in and dust off the unseen dust of his dress robes. It wasn't just the endless streams of parties that he was going to that was driving Regulus insane. It was the fact that he hadn't heard anything from Cordelia that worried him. If he knew anything about her, she wouldn't just drop off the face of the earth like that. He withheld the groan as his mother clapped enthusiastically at his attire.

He pushed away his anxiousness about Cordelia and offered his mother a tight smile.

The things he would do for family.

* * *

Cordelia withheld a yelp as she felt Greda pull tightly on the corset. No matter how much it was 'in fashion' she hated that thing to an extreme fault.

"Greda tightened it quite a bit more than usual. Mistress Cordelia loses two inches off of waist." Greda said cheerfully. Cordelia offered a tight smile as she tried to breathe with a little success.

"Thank you Greda." She responded, running her hand over her stomach. Slowly she grabbed her dress and pulled the fabric over her, letting it billow and fall down to her feet, covering them expertly. She sighed as she pulled on the neckline. It ruffled at the end of the neckline going down to mid-throat where a choker was situated in the middle. The sleeves ballooned at the shoulders before dramatically slimmed at her mid arm and ended with ruffles. The waist had, as Greda had predicted looked two inches smaller and fit the dress perfectly which was low and narrow, the skirt bell shaped. It was a lovely dress, but she honestly didn't feel really in a festive mood. She glanced up when she heard the door to the bedroom open. Her grandmother came in, sporting something much older looking and more mature. In her hand were a bunch of white roses and dandelions. Sighing she sat down in front of the vanity and allowed her grandmother to begin to place the flowers in her hair, pulling the loose strands to the back, until none of her bangs were visible.

"You are beautiful Cordelia."

"Thank you." Was all she said. She had nothing else to say. She was empty on the inside.

She was only doing this for family.

It was only a few hours later when Cordelia and Cornelia had arrived at the mansion that was housing the party. Cordelia could hear the slow music and could hear the older wizards and witches conversing between one another, the suffocating smell of perfume and cigar smoke filling the air. She sighed.

"You only need to engage with the people in front of you. I'll do the waves and nods."

"Yes Grandmother. I know." Cordelia responded as she walked besides her grandmother. Cornelia smiled.

"Relax Cordelia, it is not important to recognize any of these people. They are mostly of my generation." Cornelia said and Cordelia smiled softly.

"I know Grandmother." She responded softly. "I know."

"I know it is tiring Sweetheart. Even at my age I've never gotten used to it. Thank you for accompanying me." Cornelia said. Cordelia smiled.

"What is family for?"

* * *

"Oh Walburga, I'm so happy to see you."

"Gondoline. The pleasure is all ours." Walburga said to the aged woman, nudging Regulus who offered a slight bow.

"Oh my, Regulus you've grown since I've last seen you." Gondoline remarked and Regulus forced a smile.

"Well you did see me when I was twelve last time." He commented humorously and the older woman laughed.

"That is true. Oh Walburga you must stay the night. We have a lot of catching up to do." Gondoline said. Walburga smiled. Gondoline was probably the only friend Walburga still had. Others had either left her in fear or had died in the war.

"Of course."

"Regulus? Will you be staying here as well?" Gondoline asked. Regulus glanced at his mother and nearly, _nearly _said no. But within that millisecond of him opening his mouth to politely decline he spotted a young woman accompanying an older woman.

Cordelia.

"Regulus?" Walburga said in confusion.

"I…certainly Madam…" he forced out. He then gave a polite bow. "Excuse me." He said quickly and departed from the older women.

"Not very talkative is he?" Gondoline asked and Walburga frowned.

"Apparently."

* * *

Cordelia sighed, shaking her head to get rid of the vertigo. The lack of oxygen because of her corset was killing her.

"Are you alright Cordelia?" Cornelia asked, concern now evident in her voice. Cordelia opened her mouth to say something but Cornelia's gaze flickered away and behind her. She looked at her grandmother—whose face had suddenly seemed to blur—in confusion before turning as well.

Her heart skipped a beat.

The man now stood in front of her, was not a man her grandmother's age, but a boy of her age. His grey eyes seemed to pierce into hers, and her heart began to beat faster.

"Ah Mr. Regulus Black. What a surprise. I was not expecting you to be hear." Cornelia said. Cordelia opened her mouth and then closed it, unable to say anything past her beating heart that had seemed to have suddenly crawled its' way to her throat.

The combination of her now racing heart and her lack of oxygen became too much. She pressed her hand to her forehead as the darkness began to crawl its way from the corners of her eyes to where her vision was completely darkness. Her grandmother gasped in shock as she slid down onto the ground. Regulus barely managed to grab her before she collapsed fully. By then a throng of people had surrounded the trio.

"Oh my…what's wrong?"

"Did she faint?"

"It must be that corset." He heard Cornelia murmur.

Corset? They made her wear a corset? Why would they force someone to wear that restrictive article of clothing? Hell, the only reason that he knew about it was when he had walked into his father and Kreacher working on trying to get that thing onto his mother. That was something he had much rather forgotten.

"Oh my…Cornelia, is your granddaughter all right?" Gondoline asked as she hurried to the older woman.

"I…yes…I think she just overexerted herself." Cornelia responded.

"Oh then by all means, stay here. The poor dear needs to rest." Gondoline said. Cornelia looked about ready to object, but then sighed and nodded. Regulus forced himself to breathe as two older gentlemen picked up Cordelia and then walked away quickly. Slowly the party resumed but Regulus kept an eye on where they were taking her.

He needed to talk to her.

* * *

Cordelia slowly began to return to the world of the living later on. She was in a darkened room. Slowly she sat up and was surprised to see and feel that she was no longer in the restrictive dress, instead in a nightgown. Her hair had been let down. Sighing she sat up and got out of the bed she was lying in and walked around. She could still hear the music, though it had dulled greatly. She then noticed a small note. Picking it up, she looked at the contents.

'_Cordelia,_

_Relax right now. You fainted. Apparently Greda may have pulled the corset a bit TOO tight. We'll be staying here the night so just relax._

_Grandmother'_

Cordelia sighed and then slid to the floor, curled up in a ball, pulling her fingers through her hair. Oh what the bloody hell had she gotten herself into now? She felt like a fool. One sight of him and her heart fell into disarray and she bloody fainted.

Oh what the hell was she going to do now?

* * *

The party continued till it was past fashionably late. Many of the older guests had begun to snooze by the time they were leaving. Gondoline waved many of her guests' goodbyes, still singing merrily to herself, apparently having gotten drunk. Walburga was leaning heavily onto Regulus, nearly as drunk as Gondoline. Slowly Regulus made his way to her guest room, allowing the house-elves to take it from there. He wished his mother goodnight. Not a second after the door closed Regulus bolted down the halls, being sure to be sneaky enough around certain corners when he heard footsteps. He glanced around the corner to see a house-elf vanishing around another corner. One was leaving a room.

"Mimsy hopes that Miss Cordelia sleeps well."

"Thank you." A soft voice said and he swallowed. The house-elf smiled happily before scampering away. He waited a few more minutes before he slowly and carefully advanced to the door. Hesitating for a second he gently knocked.

"Yes?"

"It's me." He said. Seconds later there was a bunch of loud crashing as though she had tripped. "Are you alright?!" he hissed out.

"Wait!" she cried out as though she knew he was going to open the door. "I-I'm alright." She stammered out. "I'm alright so…" she trailed off. "I'm sorry. If I hurt you. I didn't mean it. My parents…" she said, but trailed off again. He was silent. So it had been her parents that had probably been taking his letters and not giving them to her, and probably vice-versa. She apparently took that silence as accusatory. "I'll go home first thing tomorrow. I'm sorry." She whispered through the door. He balked.

"It's not like that! Don't worry about that! I-" he began to say but heard footsteps coming close. Without thinking he pushed her door open and then closed it quickly just in time as a maid walked by the door, apparently not hearing the noise. He stared at the door, listening to the fading footsteps before looking up towards Cordelia. Her eyes widened as well as her face grew in color. Suddenly tears began to slide down her face. The month or two of being separated from him, and her parents trying to force her to marry came crashing down. She had missed him terribly. She pressed him against the door frame, just hugging him. He stood there for a second, stunned, one hand going awkwardly to her hair, as though to remind himself he wasn't dreaming. Then he returned the hug, sliding down the frame of the door and taking her with him. There they sat on the ground what seemed like hours, but was actually only merely seconds.

_I know we shouldn't do this._

"I…I missed you." She whimpered out, sounding so…small and fragile. He swallowed roughly, forcing himself not to cry.

"Me too."

"I'm sorry." She just kept repeating. He shook his head and tightened his grip on her shoulders.

"It's alright." He said, moving her face to where she was looking at him, he traced her cheek gently, moving the stray strands of hair out of her face and smiling at her. "I mean it. It's alright." He repeated softly.

_I shouldn't touch you._

Gently he pulled her close to him, closing the gap between them, and kissing her. He felt her stiffen before automatically relaxing in his hold.

_I shouldn't love you._

Merlin, he had missed this. If this was how his brother had felt about that Prescott girl, no wonder he had been so protective over her.

_But I can't stop._

She gripped the inside of his dress robe tightly. She had missed him. Missed him so much.

_You're a drug I can't get enough of._

The two were too much involved in snogging they failed to notice the adjoining door opening.

"Cordelia? It's me. I'm coming in." a voice said. The pair broke apart and turned to look and saw Cornelia coming out of the other room. "How are you fe-" she looked at the pair shocked. Regulus's face was bright red and he was looking at the floor. Cordelia had covered her mouth and was looking away as well. The two were expecting to be scolded.

"I knew it."

Regulus and Cordelia looked at each other in surprise as Cornelia walked by them and sat in a chair next to a desk. "I had a feeling the moment I saw you two." She said. "I am your grandmother Cordelia. I do have that intuition." She said with a coy smirk that Regulus realized Cordelia had inherited. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"It…It would take quite a while to explain, Ma'am." Regulus said, looking down at the ground. Cornelia chuckled.

"It's alright. The night is still young."

…**.UH…TADA?**


	8. BROTHER

"So your Grandmother forced your parents into letting you stay with her this summer?" Regulus asked as he and Cordelia walked down a path around Cornelia's home.

"Mhm. I don't know what she said though, but whatever the case was they are allowing me to stay with her for the remainder of my summer and my breaks next year." Cordelia said with a small chuckle. He smiled at her and noticed the fading bruise just above her sleeve line. He frowned, thinking back to the bruises he had seen the weeks before. Gently he brushed a strand of hair from her neck, forcing the feelings of anger down.

"I will tell you this. Your cousin-in-law…the Lestrange brothers…" Cordelia said with distaste. "The younger brother is an absolute git." She said. He forced himself not to chuckle.

"Really? Was he that bad?"

"Ugh. Not even five minutes into a conversation and he wanted to dictate it and have it center all around him and his achievements." She said. "It is safe to say that at this moment you do not appear to have any competition." She said and he couldn't help it but laugh.

"That's good to know." He said before stopping. She turned to look at him confused. "Well Madam Matlock, would you mind if I ask for a dance?" he said with a grin. She blinked and then smiled coyly.

"Why Mr. Regulus Black I would ask if my attire is appropriate for a dance?" she said, twirling around and allowing her long skirt to billow slightly. He chuckled and took her hand gently in his.

"I think your attire is perfectly fine." He said as he pulled her to him. She smiled gently.

"Then I think I should accept the invitation to dance." She said before he kissed her.

* * *

He had been given another mission several hours before. He and his allies had gone to this location, and he had watched as others had tortured witches and wizards, squibs, killing the muggles that got in their way. And despite months before he had taken interest in doing these activities, right then the notion sickened him.

"Hey Reg!" someone called out and he looked up in confusion, though it was hidden by the mask. "We got you a present." One of the other Deatheaters said and he could clearly hear someone struggling and muffled screams as they dragged someone towards him. Others were chuckling as they literally shoved a woman in front of him.

"Here. Kill her off." The one holding the girl by the skull said. He froze, swallowing roughly, and trying to hide his shaking withdrew his wand. He could feel his comrades sneer as they jerked the girls head up. And whatever courage he had managed to scrape up to try and commit the deed vanished the moment he saw the pair of eyes.

This woman wasn't Cordelia, no she wasn't anything like Cordelia. Her hair which if it wasn't being held in a vice like grip was short and permed and was a mousy brown. Her skin was tanner and there was evidence under the grunge and ash that there were freckles on her cheeks.

But those eyes.

The eyes were the exact same shape, the exact color that Cordelia's eyes were.

"_They are different yes. But that doesn't mean that muggle-born witches and wizards or muggles in general deserve to be killed."_

"What are you doing Black? Come on! Finish her off!"

"Please…no…" the girl whimpered out before breaking out into fresh sobs.

"Shut up, you stinking mudblood." A Deatheater growled out. "Come on! Do it!"

"I…I…" he stammered out. Before he could say anything else a sudden explosion of debris near them sent the group scattering in a cloud of dust, mortar, and bricks. Regulus barely managed to dodge a stunning hex that was directed his way. The dust cleared, revealing his brother standing over the girl who was now curled up to protect herself. Sirius's eyes were alight in anger, but it was pretty clear that he didn't know who he was.

"Murderer!" Sirius yelled out, sending a hex his way. Regulus barely managed to block before he sent a punching hex at his brother.

"What have nothing to say, coward?! Did you enjoy killing somebody's kid!? Somebody's parent?!" Sirius yelled as they continued dueling. Regulus kept blocking and throwing stun hexes.

"Crucio!"

Suddenly Sirius seemed to seize up and let out a scream that Regulus didn't know his brother was _capable _of emitting as he plummeted to the ground, writhing on the ground like a worm. Regulus froze confused. Then a form walked out. It was the same one who had shoved the girl in front of him and ordered him to kill her. He was panting hard and covered in a thick layer of plaster dust as he walked over to Sirius who at this point was struggling to sit back up, before slamming his foot on his back, forcing Sirius back onto the ground.

"Good riddance blood traitor. Avada-"

"Stupefy!"

He shot off of Sirius flying several feet in the air before slamming into some debris. He felt his skin crawl as the dust cleared revealing that the man had been impaled by several broken iron rods that had been snapped and inside some of the brick walls. The man's arms flailed and he could hear him gurgling as he tried to breathe but failed to do so as he began to choke on the blood clogging his throat. Footsteps echoed and he began to back away, as a shorter form raced towards Sirius who at this time was on his hands and knees. It didn't take him long to recognize the form to be Moria Prescott, his brother's current girlfriend.

"Sirius!" she said breathlessly.

"…still…one…" he wheezed out and Moria's head shot up. She took aim at him but before she could utter a hex, he apparated away. She cursed lightly before returning her attention to Sirius.

"Sirius are you-"

"I'm…fine…." He said offering a small smile. "Check on the other girl…" he said. She nodded and went over to the sobbing girl.

"Are you okay?" Moria asked. The girl nodded but continued wailing.

"They-they were going to kill me!" she sobbed out. Moria frowned.

"They didn't. You're safe." She said as Sirius finally found the strength to stand.

"You're safe."

* * *

Regulus barely managed to get to his room because of his shaking. He felt physically ill and for some part wanted to throw up. Before he could stop that notion however, he made gagging sounds before puking into the trash-bin near him. It had been the first time he had physically fought his older brother. A part of him was prideful that he had managed to fend himself against his brother, but another part felt sickened that he had been essentially fighting for his life against his brother. As he backed away from the puke filled bin he looked at the Deatheaters mask…the accursed mask. With a curse he flung it away, and heard it clatter onto the ground a few feet away from him before covering his face with his hands.

"Dammit…dammit." He muttered again and again. Why, why had he joined the Deatheaters so willingly two years ago? Had it been worth it?

Was it worth fighting his brother in a duel to the death?

Was it worth killing innocent lives?

Was anything worth what this war was costing everyone on both sides?

**SHORT I KNOW...SORRY **


	9. PURIFIED

Sometimes she wondered if there was reasoning behind Regulus's sudden mood swings. One day he would be happy, laughing, joking even. The next he was sullen, withdrawn.

"_I suppose it must have something to do with the war…" _she thought. It made sense. He was always sullen the day the Daily Prophet would announce another battle, fight, or scrimmage between the Deatheaters and the Ministry had taken place. She glanced at him and saw he was just staring out into the river.

"Regulus, how are you?"

"My well-being is fine. Don't worry." He said. It didn't help and her frown deepened.

"Well-being aside…how are you? Really." She said. He was silent before letting out a low breath and roughly wiping his face with the palm of his hand.

"I don't know."

"Do you wish to talk about it?"

"No." he said. "I don't want to drag you into this." He said after a pause. "My demons are dark enough." There was no way, no way he would involve someone so pure, so…innocent with something as disgusting as what he did and was doing at night. While she slept, dreaming whatever she dreamed, he was out there killing, maiming, _murdering _innocent people. There was more blood on his hands than hers could ever dream, and more than he wished she would never have. If she had to murder he would never-

His thoughts were interrupted as he was suddenly hit with a wave of water. Sputtering he returned to his senses to see Cordelia ankle deep in the river, a coy smile on her face.

"What was that for?"

"Well for one it's to snap you out of your stupor of self-pity." She chastised with a grin. "And two it's supposed to lighten the burden that you've placed on your shoulders." She said. He looked at her an amused look.

"Why's that?"

"Did you know that water is supposed to be purifying for the body and the soul?" she asked. "At least that's what muggles believe. It's silly really to believe that something as simple as water can be so godly, but it is also so…lovely." She said. He smirked as he kicked off his own shoes and socks, rolling up his pants. She looked at him momentarily confused.

"What are you-"

She didn't have time to finish as he scooped up some water and tossed it at her. She squealed loudly and then laughed before scooping up some more water and splashing it at him. The continued that for an hour or so, just being the children that they were…not the adults they had been shaped to be.

* * *

"If I die…I hope I can die in the water."

Cordelia looked at him lazily as they lay on the bank of the river, drying out in the rare sun's rays.

"What?"

"I said if I die…I want to die in the water." He said.

"That's a rather morbid thought." She commented sitting up and staring at him as though to analyze him. He smirked gently as he sat up as well.

"Well if what muggles said is true…I'll be purified—which now that I think about it, is an odd choice of words—of all my sins." He said and then sighed bitterly. "But that's a lot of sin to wash away."

"I don't see you as sinful." She said after a moment. He chuckled.

"That's because I don't tell anyone what I do. It's safer that way."

"And yet you carry these burdens by yourself?" she asked. He was silent for a few minutes.

"I have to." He said softly. She frowned staring at him. "But no matter what my burdens are…my regrets…there is one thing I don't regret or feel is a burden."

"And what's that?"

"You." He said simply. He watched as she blushed brightly, her face turning a brilliant sheen of red and her eyes were wide in shock.

"Reg…" She said softly, fiddling with a strand of wet hair. Gently he pushed the strand behind her ear, before claiming her mouth with his. She relaxed and returned the kiss, curling up to him as he pulled her to him by her waist. She ran her fingers through his hair and heard a low, almost animalistic growl. For a split second she thought that some animal had come across them.

It took her a few more seconds to realize that that growl had come from Regulus. She let out a low gasp as he trailed down her neck, but made no attempt to stop it.

Then the sounds of children laughing entered the silence and began getting closer. As the children turned around the corner they found the couple separated a few feet, looking in the opposite direction. The children looked at each other in confusion and then shrugged before rushing to the river. Cordelia's face was a bright red and she was fiddling with her hair. Regulus was looking at the trees, trying to calm his racing heart as well as relax the…other part…of his body.

"_Stupid. Stupid. STUPID." _His mind was screaming at him. He was so stupid. It took him nearly ten minutes to even scrape up the courage to glance back at Cordelia. He felt his cheeks burning as their eyes connected and she offered a soft smile, though her cheeks were flushed deeply.

And he once again had to working on relaxing the other part of his body.

* * *

"Thank you for walking me home…" she said as they stood at her grandmother's door. He offered a tight smile, before kissing her forehead gently. She smiled softly, nuzzling him taking in his scent. This would be the last time he would visit before they would be going back to school…for their last year in Hogwarts.

"Before I forget…" he suddenly said, moving away. She looked at him in confusion as he pulled out a small box from his jacket pocket, handing it to her. She looked at him before opening the box. Her heart jumped a bit as she stared at the necklace in the box. The color scheme was green and silver…of Slytherin. It was beaded and the middle the necklace was a brooch, connecting the necklace together. Etched in the middle of the brooch was a snitch, and on the bottom of the brooch was a few more beads, the largest being a green stone.

"R…Regulus…" she whispered out, trying to get her voice to work. "I love it…Thank you." She said softly, clasping the box tightly with her hands. He smiled gently and lifted her chin to where she was staring at him. She blinked before he drew her into a kiss. When he moved away, he kept himself close, his breath heating up her face.

"Ego semper diligam te, Cordelia." He said. She blinked in confusion.

"Reg…" she said but he just waved before walking away with a smile and with that she watched as he disparated away.

* * *

Later that night she lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. _'__Ego semper, diligam__te,__Cordelia__.__'_…what did that mean? Getting up she went to her grandmother's library and after searching a bit found a book about the Latin language. Sounding out the words that Regulus had said to her she finally managed to translate it. Her face grew red and her eyes widened before a bright smile broke on her face and she let out a soft laugh.

'_I will always love you, Cordelia.'_

She felt her heart beating rapidly and she felt like she had run a mile, but still had energy to go. He loved her...he loved her.


	10. ANYONE AND NO ONE

"I'm sorry but that is just barbaric."

"It's Edgar Allan Poe. What do you expect his stories to be about? Butterflies and elves?" Cordelia asked with a chuckle as Regulus put down the small book with disgust.

"Obviously not. Merlin, what possessed him to write such depressing stuff?" he asked and then looked at her in amusement. "And what on earth possesses you to actually like something like _The Masque of Red Death_?" She laughed at the question offering a shrug as she glanced and saw several Hogwarts third years scampering down the hill towards where the Care for Magical Creatures class was taking place.

"I honestly don't know why I enjoy his stories so much. Maybe because it was the best thing I could find in my parents library when I was younger and had gotten sick." She said with a shrug. "Whatever the case, he was a rather dark person. Then again there's a darkness in all of us. It just matters on how we control it." She said. He stared at her and for a brief second wondered if she was implying anything to him. He kept his mouth shut instead turned his gaze to the sky.

"So, any reason why you decided not to play Quidditch this year?"

"I'm busy this year." He said shortly and she blinked.

"Did I upset you?"

"Hm?" He said looking up startled for a second to see a concerned look on her face. "No. You didn't." he said. "What makes you think you upset me?"

"Well your expressions changed ever since I made the comment about the darkness…"she trailed off and then had a look of clarity. "You think I'm talking about you?" she asked. When he offered no response she sighed loudly, flopping back on the ground. "For Merlin's sake Regulus, I'm not talking about you." She said.

"Then who?"

"Anyone and no one."

"Always with those trick answers." He murmured.

"Anyone has darkness, but no one believes they have darkness." She clarified. "At least that is what they let everyone believe."

"You're not dark." He said and to his surprised she chuckled.

"In some aspects I can be considered two faced. My parents and many adults see one side of me…" she sat up as she said this, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear. "And other sees another. The others normally see my true face. My parents see the mask I have created to appease them." She said, her voice surprisingly light but he could hear a tone of resentment.

"You have to make a lot of sacrifices to appease parents." He said and she smiled slightly.

"Yes we do. Growing up is chore." She finally concluded and he snorted.

"I'll have to agree with you on that."

* * *

Regulus sighed as he continued down the halls of Hogwarts, taking notice that it was just after dusk. Damn he had stayed in the library longer than he should and now he was running late.

"Oh come on Babe, just one. It's not like you have a boyfriend who will get all angry."

He paused for a second. Well it seemed like someone was trying to get together.

"I believe I told you once, twice, and three times that I politely decline. Which of those words did you fail to comprehend?"

Regulus froze for a second in shock at the feminine voice he heard before he felt something heat up in his chest and he stormed around the corner. In front of him was a Hufflepuff boy, and currently trapped between a stairwell railing and the boy was Cordelia. Her face was masked in cool indifference, but it was clear that she was annoyed and growing more testy with this boy who seemed to not be getting the hint.

"Oh come on."

"What part of no-"

"Excuse me." Regulus interrupted and the pair turned to see him standing there. Cordelia's face flashed to relief the boy was annoyance. Clearly he didn't have brains.

"What do you want?"

"I couldn't help but notice that she doesn't really enjoy your company." Regulus said, his voice cool. "And unless you want a group of Slytherin's hexing your arse for annoying a member of our house, I suggest you let her go. Now." He warned. For some reason something clicked with the guy, or it may have been at this point Regulus had withdrawn his wand from his cloak, aiming it at the Hufflepuff. Whichever the case the boy moved away, holding his hands up in a surrendering fashion. Regulus continued his glare as he grabbed Cordelia by the wrist and pulled her to him and around the boy dragging her down the hall. Once he was far enough away and once his temper had cooled, he turned to her, drawing her to him.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." She replied, resting her head on his shoulder. "Annoyed, but otherwise fine."

"He didn't hurt you did he? Because if he did-"

"Regulus, I am fine." She replied forcing him to look at her. "He just asked me out on a date. Repeatedly. Which I denied each time." She continued with a shrug. "Knowing my luck he was probably asked by my parents."

"Oh for crying…" he grumbled out. "Can't your parents leave you alone for a minute of your life?"

"They wouldn't know what to do with their free time." She said with a chuckle. "Thank you."

"It's never a problem." He said.

"I think that was the angriest I've ever seen you." She commented as they made their way down towards the dungeons.

"Well that bastard was harassing you." He said and then glanced at her when she chuckled. "What?"

"It seems it's not only your brother who achieved the so called Black temper." She said chuckling as they finally reached the Slytherin corridor. She then pulled him back around the corner, and before he could react really, kissed him, pressing him against the wall. His reaction was immediate and he pulled her closer to him, making sure they were hidden in the shadows.

"…Not that I'm complaining, but the occasion for that was…?" he asked after she moved away. She smiled against his mouth, and he tried to pull her back into a kiss but she pulled away, looking rather coy.

"That was to thank you." She said quietly, most likely trying to not gain attention if any Slytherin's walked by. "Also a hello since we really haven't been able to talk lately." She said. He smirked.

"Well then might as well say hello back."

"That would be the proper thing to do."

"Of course."

**A BIT SHORT, HOWEVER I'M TRYING TO DO SOME FLUFF BEFORE IT GETS SORT OF…SAD…SO IN YOUR COMMENTS DO YOU GUYS WANT ME TO WRITE ANYTHING THAT REGULUS AND CORDELIA DO?**


	11. WHAT'S FREEDOM LIKE?

Sirius awoke sleepily to feel something warm almost burrowing into him. Glancing down he smiled when he saw Moria had finally come back from her night shift at Mungo's, and was now crawling into bed.

"'ello."

"Mmph!" was her reply as she curled up to him and he chuckled.

"Rough day?"

"Your coworkers are wimps and morons." She grumbled. "We had about two or three of them come in for things that you and James could A) easily have avoided and B) wouldn't be such big babies about." She grumbled into his shoulder and he laughed, pressing a kiss to her temple.

"Well it is a rainy day and I don't have to get to work till later tonight…how about you and I just stay in bed all day?" he teased and she looked up at him.

And smiled.

"You're on Black."

* * *

Rain. It was such a dreary thing if Regulus thought about it. Everyone felt like crawling into their beds and sleeping till it was sunny, the castle looked dreary, hell everyone looked rather dreary. Yet when one lived in a place that rain was a normal occurrence, it was normal to get used to the rain and the normal dreary outlook on it. Otherwise one would probably go mad with the amount of rain and being stuck indoors it would entail.

What wasn't normal however was the sight of a solitary figure dancing around in circles out in the grassy area that was near the Quidditch fields. Curiosity took over and he managed to sneak away from his group of friends, followed an offbeat, off rhythm tune from someone humming. He was surprised to see Cordelia twirling around in the rain, her shoes having been discarded under a nearby tree. She was soaking wet, and gathering from the fact that she was still dancing, didn't seem to take any notice in the fact it was raining. She continued her twirling as he observed her, quietly approaching her. As she made a twist, he captured her hands gently with his, startling her out of her daydream.

"Regulus?! How long have you-"

"Long enough for me to watch you dancing by yourself." He said with a chuckle. "And here I thought you said you couldn't dance."

"I was twirling, there is a difference." She retorted, her face a slight hue. He laughed again.

"Alright, then I was there long enough to see you twirling by yourself." He amended, pulling her to him by her waist. Her face became a darkened pink, as they continued to dance around in the alcove of trees, the sound of the rain becoming the music that they were dancing to. "Might as well keep you company." He said.

"So how has your week been?" she asked as he twirled her around. He shrugged.

"Busy, midterms are coming up so I haven't really had time to sleep." He responded absently, holding back a yawn. She chuckled, apparently in agreement.

"I'll have to agree with that." She said, before making a slight gasp as he lifted her up by the waist. When he finally placed her back on solid ground, she was trying to regain a sense of composure.

"I must admit, this is the first time I've ever seen you so flabbergasted." He stated with a smirk and she glared at him in annoyance.

"Forgive me, I am not used to having a partner in normal circumstances." She responded. His smile grew, and with that pulled her to him, earning a slight squeak and her face darkening further.

"Well how about I change that normality?" he asked. "May I have this dance, Miss Cordelia?" he asked. She offered a slight coy smile.

"Considering that you have already snared me, I do not have much of a choice." She commented.

"True, but I still would like to know the answer."

"Yes Mr. Regulus." She said. "I think I would be honored to have this dance."

* * *

"It's sad."

"What is?" Regulus asked glancing down at the form that was resting on his chest. Their dancing in the rain had ended an hour ago, but now they were just resting, relishing the fact they were this close. It had been nearly two weeks since they had been able to sit and talk like a couple. It surprised him how difficult it was to maintain that they were just acquaintances around everyone else. He often wondered how his brother, a man that wasn't known for keeping secrets—especially relationship secrets—had managed to hide his relationship status with Prescott until his last year. She chuckled slightly.

"That I'm envious of the birds." She said.

"The birds?" he repeated, moving slightly to look at her profile. She was staring at some trees that he could hear birds singing. It was almost time for the late-birds to head south. "Why on earth are you jealous of birds?"

"Because they know what freedom is like. They can go wherever they want to go. They've always had that freedom." She replied, sighing softly. "However a lot of us are trapped in cages, unable to escape the ropes that our parents have tied around us." He was silent, resting his hands around her waist. He didn't really have an answer to that, no reply that she was wrong.

"…I wonder what it's like."

"Hm?"

"Freedom…" he said, pressing his mouth into her hair, muffling his response slightly, but it was still clear enough for her to here. "I wonder what freedom is like."

She was silent for a few moments. Then she smiled.

"It may not be much…but I do have some freedom." She said.

"Really? And how is that?"

"Being with you." She replied simply and watched as his face turned red. She chuckled softly staring at the sky as a single blue bird took off into the sky, chirping loudly its' song as it flew and disappeared into the grey clouds. She only glanced back at him when he ran a finger down the curve of her cheek, drawing her to him before kissing her.

They were each others own small piece of freedom. Whether there was a price to be paid, they weren't sure, but they didn't care.

**SOME FLUFF. DO YOU GUYS HAVE ANY REQUESTS FOR FLUFF? ANYTHING YOU WANT TO SEE HAPPEN BEFORE THE INEVITABLE DOES?**


	12. ROOM OF REQUIREMENT

"Cordelia!"

"Cordelia Matlock!"

The said person turned, her light green eyes growing slightly curious. Her surprise was masked quickly as she saw several Slytherin girls, two of them of a younger year, one the year above her. She had been looking for a quiet place on the seventh floor to read and study, however it seemed she wasn't alone.

"Yes?" she asked, turning fully and holding her books to her chest. "Can I help you?"

"Listen Cordelia, we don't know what your problem is…" the older one said and Cordelia began to feel as though she was being persecuted. "But stay away from Black."

"I do not believe that what I do with my life is up to you." Cordelia responded coolly. "Besides the fact that he and I are friends, he and I are not puppets to your jealous whims." She added and made the motion to move around the group of girls.

"You aren't listening!" one of the other girls snarled out, grabbing Cordelia by the arm, causing her to drop her books. "This isn't up for you to decide. And we're going to teach you a lesson, one way or another." They growled out. Before she could actually comprehend what was happening, she was shoved hard backwards. She stumbled, but before she could retaliate, was shoved again. She was aware of the sound of a door being forced open, but before she could comprehend what that door led to she was shoved again into the room, the door quickly being shut behind her.

"Ha! See her get out of this broom closet now!"

"That will teach her." Another voice said and as she sat up she could hear the voices grow dimmer.

"Bitch." She grumbled. It may have been unladylike, but in all honesty she didn't much care about being a lady to those harpies. Grabbing her wand she pushed back her hair.

"Lumos." She said and the tip of the wand lit up. It was then she realized she wasn't in a musty broom closet as the girls had thought they had shoved her in. Blinking she stood up. She was in a large room, so large she couldn't see the end of it. And it was filled to the brim with junk.

"Is this the Room of Requirement?" she murmured to herself as she took a few steps in. She had heard about it in her books. And considering the girls had felt the need for a broom closet, it wasn't that surprising that it looked like that to them. But she didn't understand why she of all people was here. She didn't need it.

"_Not exactly true…you don't really like small spaces, so you probably at the moment you were being shoved thought you needed a larger space." _A voice informed in her head. She sighed and glanced at the door. She could easily leave, there was nothing barring her from doing so. But…

"_Curiosity killed the cat…"_ she thought to herself, but decided it wouldn't hurt to explore a little bit before she left. So she began to walk slowly into the maze of items. It was odd to see the place. The windows at some point had been blocked by large amount of broken furniture; however enough light was being filtered to where she stopped the spell.

A jar filled with eyes, several Cornish pixies that almost attempted to play with her, a large cabinet that was covered by a rug…there were so many items it would have been easy to get lost. She glance behind her and to her relief could still see the entrance. Her hand brushed a box and she glanced at it. It wasn't an ornate box, it barely had anything visible on the cover. Blinking she lifted the box's lid and was surprised to see a crown. It was rather ornate, shaped like an eagle with a large blue gem in the middle.

"Must have belonged to someone in Ravenclaw." She murmured. It was rather intricate, nothing she would ever wear, but still…shaking her head she went to close the lid, accidentally brushing her hand across the metal.

In a split second the curiosity that had been her companion for this little adventure disappeared as shooting pain shot through her head, and she wondered for a split second if she was screaming, but realized that it wasn't her own voice that she could hear ringing in her head.

"_GET OUT! GET OUT!"_

"_YOU DON'T BELONG HERE!"_

"_STAY OUT!"_

They were ringing over and over in her head, and the screaming that grew louder and louder. Cordelia chocked on the air, retracting her hand but her vision had blurred and darkened. She barely managed a gasp of air before she blacked out; barely feeling her back hit the floor as she sank into darkness.

* * *

"_Where the hell is she?" _Regulus thought as he wandered around the Hogwarts castle. It was odd… she wasn't in any of the usual locations he would have seen her, and when he had casually glanced into the Hospital Wing she wasn't there either.

He shouldn't have felt this worried about her; she was a big girl and could take care of herself. But still that nagging doubt was circling in his stomach, forming a hard knot that was becoming more and more difficult to ignore.

"It was right here!"

He paused for a second as he rounded a corner.

"It's not there anymore!"

"But there was a door there a few hours ago…"

"Does that mean that Matlock is trapped behind that door? You think that's why she didn't just get out and leave?"

"Could be."

Regulus froze behind the corner, listening as the girls began to make assumptions, she was probably just fooling with them and had been avoiding them. He held back as the girls scampered away, biting his inner cheek till it began to bleed. He then walked around the corner and saw several books on the ground. Moving closer he felt his heartbeat quicken. Those were **her **books.

"Cordelia…where are you?" he hissed out looking around. There was no way she would leave the books here. He returned his gaze in front of him and blinked, slightly startled to see a door in front of him. Hesitant, he pushed the door open.

In front of him was a room that looked to be never-ending, filled to the brim with junk.

"What the hell is this?" he murmured, but blinked when he heard movement. Withdrawing his wand he advanced slowly into the room. The movement increased and there was a sound of very low, pained grunt. He went around a corner and spotted a form that was slowly trying to stand. His heartbeat quickened and he moved forward.

"Cordelia?!" he hissed out as the form's features finally cleared and it was indeed his girlfriend, who looked rather dazed and confused, pushing a strand of her hair behind her ear, her hand shaking horribly. "Cordelia, look at me."

"Reg?" she murmured out, her eyes finally dragging their gaze from the floor to his face as he cupped hers. "What are you doing here?" she whispered out.

"Finding you. Merlin, you're pale as a ghost." He whispered, causing her to weakly laugh.

"I feel awful." She said, resting her head on his shoulder. He swallowed roughly, panic filling him as he helped her stand.

"Do you need me to take you to the Hospital Wing?" he asked, remembering the year before when she had gotten sick. She shook her head weakly. "You sure? You aren't really sick are you?" he asked as the pair began to walk out of the room.

"Mhm. I just feel like my head was used as a gong." She replied weakly. "I'll be fine in a few minutes." She stated and he could hear strength returning to her voice. He stooped down and picked up her books, before walking with her towards the Slytherin House. Peering in he was thankful to see there was virtually no one there. There was the benefit of living in the dungeons…very few students actually enjoyed the cold feeling in comparison to the sunny outdoors.

"I'm alright Regulus. Honest." She said. He tried to keep himself busy looking, trying to make himself not seem as worried as he actually was.

"What happened?" He asked, finally turning to her. She shrugged. Her memory was hazy and she couldn't think, it was as though that moment she had been obliviated.

"I don't really remember. I probably just tripped when I was shoved into the room and hit my head. There was plenty of items in there I could have banged my head on." She murmured. He stared at her, analyzing her as though he was looking for a lie. When he saw nothing but her own confusion, he sighed before sitting next to her.

"Scared me there for a moment." He said and she looked at him with a slight smile, weary. "I thought that maybe the others…" he trailed off, unable to finish the sentence.

"No. Well the girls are a bit jealous of my apparent 'friendship' with you. But other than that, no." She said. He sighed almost in relief, moving a strand of her hair out of her face earning a smile in return.

**SSSOOOO…ANY GUESSES ON WHAT THAT IS? AND YES THERE IS A REASON, AND IT WILL BECOME KNOWN IN THE COMING CHAPTERS *EVIL LAUGH***


	13. PURITY

Cordelia sighed as continued reading her book. It was driving her mad. Absolutely mad. Her memory of the short time she had been in the Room of Requirement had been completely blocked. By what she had no bloody clue. All she remembered was getting thrown into the room, looking around and then it was like a movie reel that had run out of film. A bright light, some screaming—which she didn't know was her own or someone else—and the next thing she could remember was that she was sitting up, Regulus's face in her vision and her feeling like she had had her head beaten in.

Sighing she pulled at her braid as she put down her book. Suddenly a hand clasped her shoulder and startled she looked up.

"Hey." Regulus said with a slight, tired (Merlin he always looked tired nowadays) grin. She offered a smile in return.

"Hey."

"How are you feeling?"

She blew out a breath, her bangs fluttering slightly. "Annoyed. My memory is still the same as it was a week ago." She grumbled. He frowned.

"I'm sure all that happened was that you tripped and hit your head." At least that's what he hoped for. He had seen curses, and to his knowledge there weren't any outward physical signs that she had been cursed. But then again… "Anyway come on."

"Hm? For what? It's almost curfew." She said, shifting slightly to look at him a bit of suspicion on her face but also a look of interest. He offered a smile that seemed worthy of Sirius Black and chuckled.

"Come on, don't you trust me?" he asked. She blinked and the smiled before standing and dusting off her skirt as though there had been dirt.

"Does this require me grabbing a coat?"

"Maybe."

* * *

"Maybe, you say. Maybe." She said as she followed him outside, her feet crunching through the snow. "What is your definition of yes?" she asked, earning a chuckle from him.

"You're wearing a coat." He refuted, earning a light smack on the arm. He looked at her with a grin, holding her hand lightly with his. Finally they reached the area and he spotted a broomstick; his old one to be more precise. He could feel her looking at him in confusion and he chuckled.

"Want to go for a fly?"

"If you remember correctly, I did tell you that I crash nearly every time I'm on one. And if you remember when we first learned how to ride brooms, that girl that nearly impaled Madam Hooch was me." She said. He looked at her amused.

"Who said anything about you flying next to me?" he asked.

"Can a broom even carry two people?" she was quick to ask and he laughed.

"Yes Miss Cordelia, a broom is perfectly capable of carrying two people." He said, pulling her to him. She sighed lightly and it sounded as though it was in defeat.

"I don't suppose it would hurt…" she finally said, though he could see hesitance. Smiling gently, he grabbed the broom and then mounted it. He looked behind him; he saw her glance at it before copying his movements.

"Wrap your arms around my waist."

"I hope this wasn't your intent in the first place."

"It might have been, but I do not think you would want to fall off." He said glancing at her. She offered a slight glare before wrapping her arms around his waist. "Hang on."

"To w-" She began to say, but her comment was cut off as he took off into the air. Her grip was the only thing that told him she had been surprised by his sudden departure, as the grip had tightened in a matter of seconds. He laughed loudly as he flew higher, feeling her head which at that point had been pressed into his shoulder blades, move slightly to see how far up they were.

She blinked, looking down at the ground. She could still see the castle below her and the lights of Hogsmeade. She blinked in awe.

She had never really flown before. Never had a penchant for flying, and never really had the skill. But now, she didn't seem to mind as she casually glanced up at Regulus and saw his face a lit with a childish glow that she had only seen once or twice. If she thought about it, neither times had been when he was with his parents. She stared at him for several more seconds, before smiling as well and resting her cheek on his back, allowing her gaze to shift down and stare at the world below her.

* * *

"So what is your holiday break going to consist of?" she asked, later as they finally returned to the earth.

"Most likely spending it with my parents." He said off-handedly. "What about you? Spending it with your parents and grandmother?" he asked. She laughed slightly, almost bitterly.

"No. My holiday is going to consist of our house-elf Greda and me." She replied, pushing a windblown strand of hair out of her face. He paused and looked at her in confusion, to which she shrugged. "My parents and Grandmother are going for a several weeks long 'gala' in the mountains." She huffed. "It's an every other year sort of thing, and under normal circumstances they would bring me along…but I think I've annoyed them to the point where the idea of spending a full two weeks cooped up in a cabin with me is too much for them to bear." She said. "Can't say I was thrilled at the idea of going with them either." She added.

He was silent, analyzing her as she combed back her hair. Gently he pulled a strand behind her ear, tracing the lobe delicately. She glanced at him and offered a soft smile as he pulled her to him and kissed her lightly. When they parted, her face was a slight red, her features soft.

"I'm beginning to actually like the snow." She murmured causing him to chuckle slightly.

"Why is that?"

"Reminds me of you." She said. He looked at her. She was always filled with analogies that to him didn't make a lick of sense or were accurate.

"Snow is pure."

"And you aren't?" she asked. He chuckled, resting his forehead against hers, closing his eyes so he couldn't see the searching look that she was probably giving him.

"I'm a Deatheater." He said. "Purity isn't in the job description." She offered no response, even though she knew that it wasn't true. Deatheaters may not be pure, but he was. He had a type of purity that she could never understand.

And that's why she loved him.

* * *

Regulus had been ignoring the meeting for the most part, nodding when it was appropriate, forcing himself to blink and try not to fall asleep as how dull this was. Voldemort hadn't 'graced' this meeting with his presence, so it was rather casual. And boring.

"So what about that Matlock girl?"

Blinking about of his stupor, Regulus looked up at his classmates. "What about her?" he finally asked.

"She's an annoyance, not to mention a blood traitor. Shouldn't we kill her off?" Elphias Finkley said. Regulus felt his jaw clench.

"I've never seen her with a mudblood." Another, (Balfour Bexley was it?) said, taking the words he was yearning to say but hadn't. "And I'll admit she's annoying, but I don't think she's a threat to the Dark Lord." Bexley added.

"How the hell do you know so much about her? You been shagging her?" Gregory Cauldwell asked causing the group to chuckle. Regulus felt the blood rush to his ears.

"Of course not. But I've unfortunately been her partner in plenty of classes and she's never done anything that would suggest that she sides with muggles or mudbloods." Bexley retorted. "And I couldn't shag her even if I tried, the bitch doesn't let any man get within touching distance." Bexley said with a low growl.

"I will admit she is quite a looker. I'm not saying I'd try a relationship with her, but I'd do her in a second." Pollux Bole commented. Other's nodded in agreement, no one seeming to notice that Regulus was beginning to bend the spoon in his hand backwards, digging it into the table as his hand became paler and paler.

"In ANY case, right now she's not a threat. I don't see the reason to kill her." Bexley said. Regulus forced himself to breathe evenly as the other members nodded. Minutes later they heard Slughorn entering the common room, apparently drunk and saying in a sluggish slur that it was time for bed and curfew was almost up. The boys all agreed to what Slughorn had said and stood.

"You coming Regulus?" Cauldwell asked, looking at the other boy as he stood, a bit slower than the others.

"In a minute. Homework." He replied, forcing a grin. The other student shrugged, apparently used to this answer and headed down to the dorms. Regulus waited a few minutes before slamming his hand onto the table, rattling it slightly and he heard the distinct cracking sound of a piece of china…most likely the saucer. He was clenching his jaw in anger, his teeth pressing painfully hard against one another.

How dare they?! How dare they?!

They had not only threatened her life, but they had degraded Cordelia to a piece of property in a matter of minutes. His anger grew as the realization kicked in. No matter what he did…she would always be in danger.

And he could do nothing to stop it.

"Dammit all…" he murmured. "Dammit all to hell."

**IT'S GETTING CLOSE...SO IF YOU GUYS WANT TO HAVE ANY SCENES FOR REGULUS AND CORDELIA, TELL ME**


	14. LET IT SNOW, LET IT SNOW

Home again. Well at least almost home. He grabbed his trunk as he exited the train and spotted Cordelia standing there, grasping her own case in one hand, a small bag in another. She was the picture example of what to wear during the winter. A double-breasted jacket, the normal Slytherin colored scarf wrapped around her neck, a pair of gloves, a long skirt, a pair of black stockings to cover her bare legs, and boots. He could barely hold back a chuckle as he advanced to her.

"Cold?" He asked. She glanced at him with a smirk.

"What would make you think that?"

"Oh no clue." He joked. "Heading to the floo station?"

"Yes. Though it's a bit tedious on my part, I haven't learned to apparate yet."

"Tedious? How is it tedious?"

"At this moment my Grandmother doesn't have a floo connection directly to her house. So I have to go to the nearest station in our town and walk home." Cordelia explained. He frowned.

"I could always go with you." He said and she shook her head offering a soft smile.

"It would be way out of your way." Cordelia said softly. "Besides, your mother would worry." She added. That was true, his father had gotten sicker since last year, and it had caused his mother to become even more worried for his safety. He sighed.

"See you in January?"

"See you in January." She agreed with a smile. Right then he wanted to kiss her. To hold her. But as he saw several of his friends…several soon to be Deatheaters…he couldn't. So he only offered an apologetic smile to which she gave a slight smile that said she understood.

* * *

Regulus sighed as he began to walk back to his home. He had watched as Cordelia had made her way to where the floo connections were. He couldn't help but feel sad for her. She was going to be by herself…and it didn't seem right. He finally reached his home, looking back at the cold December morning. The clouds were heavy with the more than likely possibility of snow and he shuddered when a chilling wind brushed against him. Shivering he entered his home and closed the door with a light click.

* * *

Cordelia sighed as entered her home. It was dark, silent. Cold. Seems like her grandmother had already left. She didn't really blame her…the weather was getting worse and worse, and she did actually enjoy going to the summit. Her friends that were still around always went.

"Young Mistress Cordelia!" a squeaky high voice said and Cordelia looked down to see Greda walking up to her. Cordelia smiled at the house-elf.

"Hello Greda. Grandmother already left I presume?"

"Yes. Mistress Cornelia wished for Greda to tell Young Mistress Cordelia that Mistress Cornelia wishes Young Mistress a Merry Christmas." Greda said. Cordelia smiled.

"Thank you for relaying the information Greda." Cordelia responded, before grabbing one of her bags, Greda grabbing another. The pair then continued into home, and the quiet of the day.

* * *

Well this was turning out to be a bloody boring holiday, Regulus thought as he continued reading a book from his father's library. As it turned out, his parents had gone to that gala that Cordelia's parents had gone to, apparently to let his father breathe in some nice mountain air. Regulus sighed. It had been a week since he had arrived back to an empty home. All he had really done was complete his winter homework, which had been _oh so _fun.

"Master Regulus?"

Regulus looked down to see Kreacher.

"Hey Kreacher."

"Is Master Regulus alright? Kreacher couldn't help but notice that Young Master seems to be unhappy." Kreacher asked, surprising Regulus. He had thought he had been able to hide it rather well, then again the house-elf had watched him grow up, so maybe it wasn't that surprising that the elf had noticed something was off.

"It's nothing Kreacher…just…I've been thinking a lot of my choices in my life."

"Kreacher is sorry for asking, but what Master Regulus choices? Master's choices have been great and have been honorable to the House of Black." Kreacher said as he gave the young man a cup of tea. Regulus withheld the frown that ached to come out.

So many, so many mistakes that he could list.

"Never mind Kreacher…it's not-"

The sound of the door being knocked upon interrupted him. Regulus looked up and frowned, standing up. He wasn't expecting anyone…so who? "I'll get it Kreacher." Regulus said walking down the stairs to the entry way. He hesitated, and placed his hand on his pocket where his wand was before opening the door.

"Lord Voldemort!"

"Regulus." The Dark Lord said and for a split second Regulus felt his skin crawl as he automatically dropped his gaze to the floor.

"Is there something the matter?"

"Nothing is the matter." Voldemort said in slight his and Regulus felt a small amount of relief. "I have come here because I require something."

"And may I ask what, My Lord?" Regulus said, forcing the sense of calm to be laced in his voice.

"I require an elf." He said and Regulus looked up in surprise. "Your cousin Bellatrix informed me that you indeed had one available?"

Regulus hesitated for a second before nodding. The man…if Regulus could even call him that…continued to stare at him.

"I…volunteer Kreacher for the job." Regulus said, putting a forced look of pride on his face. "I'll go fetch him." He said.

"Do that."

With that Regulus went down to the kitchen where he knew Kreacher had gone, his footsteps clamored down the stairs. He spotted the elf there, making the beginnings of dinner for him. "Kreacher." He called out. The elf turned.

"Master Regulus?"

"He…The Dark Lord says he needs an _elf_. It's an honor." Regulus said, putting a nervous smile on his face.

The elder house elf with great bat like ears looked up at the young man, "Master Regulus has volunteered Kreacher?" The house elf croaked, "Kreacher will do whatever Master Regulus' tells him too. If it is to assist the Dark Lord, Kreacher will do so."

"You must obey the Dark Lord, Kreacher." Regulus warned, standing up, "But you must come home no matter what. Go to the Dark Lord now, and assist him in his needs of you, Kreacher, and return home afterwards. You must _return_ home."

"Kreacher will do as he is told." He bowed lowly as there was. Regulus nodded and then went up the stairs, the elf following him. Voldemort hadn't left where he had originally been standing. Kreacher offered a bow, before he went to Voldemort. In a second both had disapparated away, leaving Regulus irreversibly alone.

Now what the hell was he supposed to do?

For a second he had no idea…then his thoughts drifted.

And he grinned.

* * *

Cordelia sighed as she continued reading the small novel that was currently in her hands. It had been her grandmother's Christmas gift to her. It wasn't awful and it did have several twists and turns, but she had never been much for the romance novels. Sighing again she closed the book curling up under the quilt that was resting over her legs watching the ambient glow of the fire make odd markings across the walls. Greda was somewhere right now, more than likely preparing dinner. She wondered what her grandmother and parents were doing right now. If she could recall correctly, her parents would be at a dance right now…most likely following their friends and getting piss-drunk. Oh what fun that would have been to watch.

She was startled out of her thoughts when she heard a loud bang against the front door. Surely it couldn't be anyone. It was nearly night fall, not to mention a heavy snowfall had started earlier that day and had grown worse.

However the sounds of banging against the door grew more frequent and more intense and she hurriedly undid herself from the knot of blankets and rushed over to the door, opening it. She blinked in surprise at the half frozen man that stood in her doorstep.

"O-Okay. T-to answer your q-question from a f-few weeks ago, **NOW **is a p-perfect time for a c-coat."

"Regulus?" she exclaimed in shock, before dragging him into the entryway, closing the door and effectively shutting out the cold. Immediately she turned, looking at him in confusion as he stood there. She heard a startled squeak and spotted Greda standing there.

"Greda, can you go make some soup please?" she said, taking charge as she went over to him, beginning to undo the buttons on his coat.

"R-Rather forward of you C-Cordelia."

"Oh shut up." She murmured glancing at Greda, who had stood there frozen. "Please, Greda." She said in a more authoritative voice, breaking the house-elf out of her stupor.

"Yes Young Mistress! Greda will go fetch some soup quickly!" the house elf squeaked and with a pop disappeared back to the kitchen just as Cordelia forced Regulus's arms out of his coat, disposing the snow heavy and snow covered jacket onto the ground.

"What are you doing here?" she breathed as she pulled off his scarf and his gloves, clasping his shaking hands with hers, startled at how cold they were. He offered a small smile.

"S-surprising you. Why?" he asked. She muttered a curse and dragged him over to where she had been previously sitting, forcing him down.

"Because you're freezing. You're lucky you didn't catch hypothermia and…" she trailed off as she settled the blanket around his shoulders. "Why were you surprising me? Shouldn't you be with your family on the eve of Christmas?" she asked with a slight pained smile.

"In the ironies of irony, our parents are currently spending the two weeks together." He said with a grin. She blinked, startled and then offered a slight laugh.

"Young Mistress?"

She turned to see Greda standing there holding a tray, on it was two bowls of soup. Apparently she had been making soup for dinner. Cordelia didn't know whether to laugh at the irony or be grateful to the luck. Gently she grabbed the tray and offered a small smile to the nervous house-elf. Greda hated newcomers…was absolutely nervous around them.

"Thank you Greda…that will be all for tonight." She said and the house-elf looked positively relieved before scurrying off.

"…Does everyone in your family despise me?"

Cordelia laughed as she handed Regulus a bowl. "Don't pay any attention to it. She doesn't like strangers." Cordelia said with a bright smile. "You're lucky you didn't get lost…"

"Who's saying that I didn't?" Regulus said, taking a spoonful. "The place looks very different at night…and during a blizzard."

"Merlin, Regulus…" she murmured, the nervousness coming back into her voice. He glanced up and was surprised to see worry in her face.

"I'm alright, Cordelia." He said, placing the near empty bowl down on the table in front of him and running his hand over the outline of her face. She shuddered, and for a second he thought his hands were still cold, but when she leaned into his touch clasping his hand and holding it to her face with her own hand, he smiled

"I missed you." He said. She sighed.

"I missed you as well." She said, glancing at him with a soft smile. He pulled her to him, kissing her. Her response was immediate, relaxing and returning the kiss. It was at first tender and soft; innocent. However, it slowly grew rougher, and desperate. It had been nearly a month since they had last held each other, nearly a month since they had last kissed.

He pulled her closer, fisting his hand into her hair. She placed her hand on his shoulder, fisting the still chilled fabric in her grip. The cold that had been there previously inside Regulus quickly vanished. It felt similar, maybe even stronger, to the time when they had been by the river last summer. It didn't take him long to figure out what it was, and soon after he realized that they were nearing the breaking point that if they went any farther and she tried to back out, he wasn't sure if he would be able to.

"Cordelia…" he murmured, breaking the kiss and moving a few inches away. "We-we should stop…"

"Why?" he heard and was surprised. He could hear his heartbeat inside his head, and for a second thought maybe he had heard her wrong. "Why should stop?" she asked again, staring at him with those enticing green eyes.

"I won't be able to stop if we go any farther." He tried to explain. She was silent before clasping his face with her hands, bringing her face to his. Her scent, mint, filled his senses numbing his reason and smothering it.

"Then don't." she said. He hesitated for a brief second, and that second she took to her advantage, kissing him. And whatever reasoning he had, it quietly died as he pulled her close. The sounds of storm outside disappeared. All that mattered was the form that he was holding.

That was only what mattered.

**SO…WHAT DO YOU THINK THE NEXT CHAPTER IS GOING TO BE ABOUT?**


	15. WINTER SNOW

**IF YOU DON'T WANT TO READ THE SEX SCENE SKIP THIS. I'LL TELL YOU WHEN TO READ AGAIN**

* * *

He wasn't sure how they had gotten to her bedroom. At least how they had gotten there without nearly killing each other, he wasn't sure. They had tripped a few times, trying to move while remaining in the kiss, but he had managed to catch the both of them. She had, at some point, had given up on walking, instead wrapped her legs around his waist, a rather risqué move on her part but it aroused him to the point where he didn't give a bloody damn.

His mouth was hard, hungry, almost hurting her as he kissed her with savage need. Still he was hesitant, pushing back from losing himself completely, apparently trying to make sure that she wanted this as much as him, which she was. She was nervous; she figured pretty much any girl would be in this situation with any man. Slowly her body began to relax, the nervousness leaving and she began to yield to him.

"Cordelia…" He whispered against her mouth, and heard her light, startled gasp as he slid his hand a fraction under her shirt, but other than that no comment was made to signal that she was changing her mind. If anything, that touch had made her grip on him become tighter. She became aware of a snapping sound and in the waters of her hazed mind realized he was unbuttoning her shirt, sliding his hand and tracing the outline of her bra.

"Sort of surprised that you chose a simple bra."

She laughed at his odd comment, her response echoing in her swimming head. "What? Were you expecting me to be wearing l-" Her sentence was cut off as kissed her again, trailing the kiss down her neck.

"Short of words?" he joked causing her to glare at him. He chuckled, though it was low and rough.

"Oh be quiet." She grumbled though a small coy small was on her face. He smiled softly, pressing his forehead to the curve of her neck. She was something else. He blinked when he felt her hand slide down inside his shirt; her nails grazing his back and his heart skipped a beat.

He slid her shirt off of her shoulders, stopping just as the fabric reached her elbows. She kissed him again, running her fingers through his hair the black strands slipped through her fingers to fall back in place, shaped perfectly to his head as she felt the clasp of her bra being jerked at. His breathing was ragging as he moved slightly, and she heard a growling sound. She remembered that sound from the summer before and let out a small moan, when she had the sudden sensation of falling, which made him clutch at his waist. It wasn't until she felt the coolness of the bed beneath her when she realized he had been lowering her to its surface.

"Reg…" she whimpered before he kissed her again, pressing her to the bed. She tugged on his shirt, and he obliged willingly managing to get his shirt of. She ran her hand over his chest, almost going further, however he stopped her and pinned her hand to the bed. She looked at him strained.

"Regulus…" she whimpered. "Please-"

"Not yet." He murmured. "Just lie there and let me love you until you're ready for me."

I _am _ready." She protested before his mouth came down on hers and stifled any further protests. When he raised his head again it was with hot satisfaction stamped on his taut features.

"Not like you will be."

Her throat went dry and any comeback disappeared as she felt heat slid down to her core. She felt a tug on her skirt.

"Let's get you out of these." He said and she blinked. The strain was evident in his voice as he tugged at the fastening of her skirt. It came free, and the zipper rasped quietly as he slid it down. She made a soft whimper sound.

"Regulus." She whimpered again, trying to keep the shaking out of her voice as he kicked off his pants. He looked up at her and grinned, though she could still see he was just as nervous as she was. After a few minutes she wrapped her arms his neck and the knot that had been in his stomach disappeared.

Their lips met, then their bodies melded. There wasn't an inch of skin that remained untouched on either of them as they made the jump from sexual tension to the real thing. Regulus looked down at her offering her a soft smile. She smiled back and his heart skipped a beat. She was soft, slender to the point of fragile, and yet he'd never known a less fragile woman in his entire life. She seemed dauntless-even fearless-and then there was that part of her that he would never understand.

Her body felt raw. She craved his touch, and yet it was close to painful. Every time his hand touched her skin, her body vibrated like a guitar string that had been strung too tight. She wanted more. She wanted him. She closed her eyes as he tangled his fingers in her hair, tugging on it till she submitted to him. She reached for him feeling the strength of the muscles along his shoulders as his head dipped toward her. She felt the warmth of his lips along her skin, on her lips, in the curve of her neck between her chin, in the valley between her breasts. When his tongue circled the outer surface of her navel, she shuddered from want.

"Regulus…please…" she whispered, then fisted her hands in his hair and tugged gently. He moved back up her body, then rose up on his elbows to look down at her. She seemed so fragile at this moment, and it made him fall for her even more.

"You are so beautiful." He said softly and she blushed brightly, giving him a soft smile.

"Regulus…"she murmured pleadingly and he kissed her gently. He hesitated for a second before he sank into her. He felt her flinch under him and her grip his shoulders tightened as she had to accommodate and adjust to this, he pressed his forehead to hers, closing his eyes. He grew still, allowing her that time before he began to move. Their joining was more than either of them had imagined. For Cordelia, it was knowing that she was completely his. For Regulus it was a feeling of coming home. Time had stopped. All sense of themselves as individuals became lost in the act of making love. The room stood in the dim lighting but was tempered in warmth. The gentleness of their lovemaking was slowly moving into a frenzy that they wouldn't have stopped, even if they could.

The climax came suddenly and without warning shattering Cordelia to the core. Only seconds separated them as Regulus followed suit. He'd been in control from moment he had slipped inside her to the exit of the last thrust. But when he began another downward stroke, he felt himself coming apart. He tried to maintain the motion but lost it-and himself-inside her.

When it was over, they lay weak and spent in each other's arms. No words were spoken then. No sounds were made as Regulus reached down, grabbed the blankets and pulled, covering himself and Cordelia. And so they slept, with her head pillowed on chest and his arms holding her close.

* * *

**IT'S OVER NOW~!**

It was shortly before dawn when he woke up, lying on his side with her back to him. She was curled up into the warm curve of his chest. He blinked at her in confusion for a second before remembering the night before. Despite a small feeling of panic, he smiled, brushing a strand of her sliding his finger down her shoulder blade. He glanced at the Deatheaters mark that was embedded on his left my arm. He frowned at the memory of what his classmates had said earlier that month. If they even touched her, they would be dead. But it didn't do much good did it?

She would still be in danger, even if she didn't know him. They had started to consider a blood traitor…Merlin what would they do if they-

She shifted in her sleep, turning to where she was facing him. Her face was still flushed from the night before, a soft smile on her face. His thoughts died out as he stared at her face. He smiled brushing his hand over her bangs. Perhaps it had been a mistake, but he didn't regret it.

"…hope you're warm…"

He blinked and looked down at her, seeing her eyes partially open. "Pardon?"

"I said I hope you're warm."

He was confused for a second before remembering that he had nearly frozen to death actually getting here. He chuckled and then laughed, pulling her to him.

"Yeah, I believe I'm warm enough." He said. She smiled, laughing softly as well.

"Good. I'm glad." She said, wrapping her arms around his neck. He smiled as she curled up to him. He kissed her again, deepening it. As they kissed, she raised her knee beneath the sheets, silently offering him what they both desperately wanted.

He chuckled against her lips as he stroked her inner thigh.

"And here I thought you wouldn't want to go again." He commented. She looked at him in confusion.

"Why would you think that?"

"I hurt you."

"Regulus Black, I believe every girl goes through that pain when it's their first time." She commented with a soft smile. "You did nothing wrong. And it was actually incredibly promising."

"Promising?" he asked an eyebrow rising. She nodded.

"Well then…" he murmured, drawing her back to him.

He was warm, completely warm. And he didn't regret it at all.

* * *

"I think that's the first time I've seen Greda blushed." Cordelia commented as the two sat in the kitchen. Regulus looked at her amused.

"It doesn't take a genius to figure out what we did last night. I doubt she exactly likes to think about that." He said. She paused for a second and then laughed.

"I guess I didn't think about it like that." She said with a smile. He grinned, setting down his cup before going over to her, pulling her to him. She laughed just before he kissed. She gripped his shirt delicately, before wrapping her arms around his neck.

"You really have to go?"

"Kreacher probably is having a fit wondering where the hell I am." He said. "I promise I'll see you after Boxing Day." He said kissing her gently. She murmured, but for some reason felt a nervous twinge in her stomach…maybe it was just the food she had eaten, or the lack of sleep, but for some reason she felt as though she would never see him again.

"Okay…" she said. He kissed her forehead gently, then traveled to her mouth, kissing her gently.

"I love you." He murmured. She smiled and then laughed softly.

"I love you too." She said. He tipped her head back, he kissed her brow, her cheeks, before laying his lips on hers.

"I love you." He repeated. "I've got to go." He said pulling her into a hug. She nuzzled him, drawing in his scent.

"Okay…Boxing Day?"

"Boxing Day." He concluded. It felt odd leaving her, and he shuddered the moment he stepped outside and as the cold enveloped him. But he glanced back and smiled when he saw she was standing just outside her door, waving bye. Then he apparated away.

**HOW ROMANCE AUTHORS DO THESE ON A DAILY BASIS I HAVEN'T A CLUE. YOU GUYS THINK YOU'RE BLUSHING READING THIS? HOW DO YOU THINK **_**I **_**FELT? OH MY GOD...  
**


	16. SACRIFICE

Returning home hadn't been fun, but still he didn't particularly mind it. He still had nearly a week to himself and he was going to use-

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard a pained sound. Curious, he ventured around the corner of the kitchen table. As he turned he saw the house elf squirming on the floor. "Kreacher, what's wrong!?" Regulus said setting his drink down roughly, the contents slopping around and out of the cup as he got down kneeling to the house elf.

"Master Regulus..." Kreacher croaked.

"Kreacher, do you need water?" Regulus asked hurriedly as he pulled his wand out and flicked it, a glass appeared, "_Aguamenti_." He hissed, the cup filling with water. "Drink this, Kreacher. Drink." He ordered, the house elf happily took the cup and drained it, the pain disappearing from the Elf's drooping face. "Kreacher, you are to stay hidden, not to leave the house."

"Right Master Regulus..." The house elf nodded.

"You can sleep, you look as if you need it." Regulus said gently, placing a hand on top of the house elf, "Rest." The house elf nodded and clamored into his cupboard, falling asleep almost instantly. He stood and walked back to the table, picking up his cup, half of its contents escaped onto the table. He flicked his wand and they disappeared. He scowled to himself as he took another sip before putting the cup in the sink, it completely empty.

He turned and left to his room, grabbing his night cloak before walking silently down the flights of stairs, past his parent's room ending up in front of his father's study. He hesitated for a second. He had only been in there once…and he had never really wanted to go in there again. But he did.

"Horcrux…" Regulus murmured. That was what Kreacher had said that Voldemort had tested some damn potion and had left him to die for.

He looked around and swallowed. He had a few hours of research to do.

* * *

Cordelia stood up from the toilet, rubbing her hand across her mouth as she flushed. Merlin, she had been doing this for nearly two days. But yet she was confused. She had no other symptoms for a stomach bug, other than puking. She sighed, wondering how Regulus was as she went to her desk and opened a new ink vial, pulling out her potions book.

* * *

Regulus sat on the ground, a dark red book lying lax in his hand as he stared out through the windows of the study, his body numb. Voldemort had split his soul…he was immortal…

He gritted his teeth, frustration taking over his consciousness. He couldn't understand it. Years ago, he had trusted and followed this man. But now…

He remembered what his colleagues had said earlier on about Cordelia. He thought about how Voldemort's stand on her would be, coupled now with the fact that he couldn't die. And he came up with the simple conclusion. She would be killed. It would only be a matter of time before her beliefs about muggles and muggle-born witches and wizard fully came into view, and when that happened, she would be hunted down, hated, and most likely killed for being a considered blood traitor. He stood and went to his room. He did nothing as he sat there at his desk, staring at a blank piece of parchment. It wasn't until that night when he knew what to do. He pulled out an ink vial, and hesitated, closing his eyes, his memory replaying the last time he saw her. She had been smiling, waving goodbye to him, expecting to see him the next year.

He was going to break that promise.

He paused for another moment, before beginning to write:

'_Dear Cordelia,'_

It took nearly an hour before he finished writing the letter, and placed it in an envelope. He paused and then put it on the shelf of his desk, sticking just enough out that if Kreacher came upon it, he would know what to do. If he came back alive, he would tear it in half…it wouldn't matter then. But…

He was disturbed and it was clearly written over his face as he grabbed the replica locket that he had made after looking at a picture of it in a book and stuffed it into his pocket, the letter, the last letter she had written to him, was next to the locket. He then paused and looked at the locket, before sitting back down and grabbing a smaller piece of parchment and unscrewing the ink vial again.

_"To the Dark Lord,_

_I know I will be dead long before you read this but I want you to know that it was I who discovered your secret. I have stolen the real Horcrux and intend to destroy it as soon as I can. I face death in the hope that when you meet your match you will be mortal once more."_

_R.A.B _

He stopped, looking at the letter and staring at how nervous his handwriting looked. He closed his eyes tightly, pressing his finger to the bridge of his nose. Dammit…

Before he lost his nerve, he quickly folded it and placed it into the locket, before he made his way carefully down the stairs, feeling himself go numb as he reached the kitchen. "Kreacher..." He called softly as he opened the cupboard.

"Master Regulus?" Kreacher croaked, waking up quickly.

"Can you take me to that cave? The cave that the Dark Lord took you too..." Regulus asked Kreacher. Kreacher began to speak against it; it was not an order, but a question, which meant he was not forced to do it. "Take me to the cave." Regulus hissed and Kreacher looked taken aback, before slowly nodding and holding his hand with his small one.

* * *

Kreacher apparated them to the cave, and walked around to where the sacrificing of blood was needed to be made. Kreacher was about to give it when Regulus stopped him and pulled out a small pocket knife Sirius had gotten him years back in his third year. He dug it into his hand, biting his lip to hold in the pain as the blood poured over the rocks. He didn't bother to heal the cut – if he made it out alive, he would do so then, and if not, well, what difference would it make? Instead, he simply wiped it absent-mindedly on his cloak, slipping through the door as soon as it opened wide enough to admit his slim form, and headed towards the edge of the lake.

It was startlingly beautiful, in its own way. The still water looked like glass; no water was naturally that flat, Regulus thought, and chewed nervously on his thumbnail. It was dangerous. That was all he knew. No amount of cajoling, not even the direct order to tell, had managed to pry more than that from Kreacher, and Regulus had ceased to push for it, well aware that the house-elf had almost died, and that his reluctance to speak of it was only natural.

Even without Kreacher's testimony, though, he could easily have told that it was dangerous. The water was too still, too flat. Nothing dripped into it, nothing moved in it but his own reflection. Across the black water, the dim, greenish glow of the island remained constant. Almost hypnotized, Regulus moved closer, climbing over the dry stone until he was only inches from where the still water touched the shore. Dangerous, yes, but beautiful nonetheless.

And then his eye was drawn to a white shape, floating just under the surface of the water a few yards from the shore. Even before he looked at it full-on, he knew what it was: behind him, Kreacher gave a little sound of fright, starting back towards where they had entered. Swiftly, Regulus darted out his free hand to grab the elf's shoulder, never taking his grey eyes off the corpse floating in the magically flat water.

"You mentioned a boat, Kreacher," he said quietly, his voice level and firm. "Where is it?"

Bulbous eyes grew wider than ever in the wand light, Kreacher shook his head. "Kreacher doesn't know," he said, almost inaudibly. "Kreacher is sorry, young master. Kreacher will…"

"Do nothing," Regulus interrupted, lips pressed together tightly. "_Nox_." The light went out suddenly, leaving him blinking away the afterimages. For a moment, he stood there, perfectly still, waiting until all he could see in the darkness was the dim light of the island, then he turned away again, climbing over rocks he couldn't see, always keeping the remembered water well to his left.

"It glows, you said?" he asked after a moment, negotiating a particularly difficult stub of rock and dashing his shin against it in the process. He couldn't see Kreacher nod, but he knew that it was true; Regulus Black had a particularly well-trained memory. Narrowing his eyes, he perched on the rock and scanned the dark water.

_There_! Blinking to make sure that it wasn't a figment of his imagination, he put his hand on Kreacher's shoulder again. "Down there," he said in a hushed tone, nodding at the glowing boat just under the surface of the water. "Is that it?"

"Kreacher… thinks so," Kreacher said after a long moment, and Regulus nodded in the darkness.

"Keep your eyes on that spot, Kreacher," he advised, letting go of the elf's shoulder, and raised his wand again. "_Lumos_."

Despite his worries, when the light filled the cavern again, making him blink, he could still see the shape of the boat under the water, now he knew where to look. Wordlessly, wand held high, he started back towards the water, casting around for something, anything, to fetch the boat with.

In the end, he almost tripped over the chain, only just catching his wand before it rolled away into the water. Passing it to Kreacher again, so that he would still have light, he bent down to grasp the chain in both hands, giving it an experimental tug. The boat moved. He pulled again, more purposefully; hand over aching, bleeding hand. He wasn't strong, not like Sirius, but he was no weakling, either; slowly, jerkily, the boat moved towards them, drawn by the chain he couldn't see. "Keep a close eye on the water," he cautioned Kreacher, without looking up.

The house-elf nodded, tearing his attention away from the smears of Regulus' blood left on his shoulder and looking up at the still, dark water with fear in his huge eyes.

Hauling the boat up close to the shore, Regulus let go of the chain, reaching over to grab the side of the boat and draw it closer still. "Get in, Kreacher," he ordered the elf quietly, as the boat crunched onto the rocks. "Carefully." Taking his wand back, he lifted it high so he could see and avoid the water as he climbed aboard, closely followed by the wide-eyed house-elf. "Now, how do we…?"

His question was answered for him as the boat began, painfully slowly, to move across the lake of its own accord. Pushing his lips together, he glanced at Kreacher, who was rocking to and fro, looking hideously frightened, then back at the slowly approaching glow of the island. It seemed to take an age before, finally, the boat came gently to rest against the stones of the island, allowing the tall Death Eater to step ashore, the house-elf following closely behind him.

Extinguishing the wand light – he didn't need it in the pale light of the island's own glow, and he preferred to have his wand ready for use in a place like this – Regulus stepped carefully over the rocks towards the source of the light. "This is it?" he asked curtly, glancing back at Kreacher. The elf nodded.

Taking a few more steps, which brought him within reach of the basin, he paused looking at the basin before down at the house-elf. "Kreacher?" The house-elf looked up, eyes wider than ever, and Regulus sighed. "If it looks as though I am in danger, then let me be in danger. If you have to let me die, then let me die. One of us has to leave this place alive, with the locket, after all."

Kreacher hesitated, and Regulus' lips drew tightly together.

"That's a direct order, Kreacher," he said flatly. "And don't drink any of the potion, either, no matter what it does to me. You've lived through that once, and once is more than enough. Force it down my throat if you must, but _do not drink it_. Am I understood?"

After a long moment, Kreacher nodded. Regulus nodded back, running his fingers through his cropped black hair, and looked down at the dimly glowing potion. "It has to be drunk," he said flatly, mostly to himself, and sighed, looking back at the elf again. "Do not tell Mother of this," he said quietly, "nor Father." He paused…he doubted Kreacher would ever meet Cordelia, but… "You must not tell anyone. If there is even the smallest chance that word will reach the Dark Lord through them, you must not tell them I was here. In fact… no. You must tell nobody in the family. Nobody at all. Am I understood?"

Again, Kreacher nodded reluctantly.

"Good." Regulus turned back to the basin, conjuring a goblet with a flick of his wand, and plucked it out of the air. His tight jaw and bobbing Adam's apple the only sign of the sudden fear gnawing at his heart, he bent, filling the goblet to the brim, then straightened up, raising his chin. The steady glow of the liquid, shimmering as he lifted the goblet, lit his angular, handsome face with leaping shadows, making him look almost skeletal, and turned his alabaster-white skin to a sickly green. He looked at once very old and very, very young.

Swallowing hard, he lifted the goblet to eye level, nodding to empty air and before he could stop himself or back out, gulped down the entire contents of the goblet without pausing for breath.

_She was curled up next to him, her face a flushed red and she laughed as he pulled a strand of her hair up to his lips, kissing it delicately._

"_**You are so odd Regulus."**__ She said, as he felt his hand glide down her bare waist. She chuckled again. __**"And apparently very eager."**_

"_**I love you."**_

"_**I love you as well."**_

It didn't hurt. Not immediately. His first thought was that it felt like swallowing ice, ice that filled all his veins and froze his muscles, but he could deal easily enough with that. He could deal with _all_ of this. He didn't care how bad it was or how much it might hurt later.

"_Drink it up_." He thought.

Grinding his teeth together, he refilled the goblet. It took him two tries to get it all down this time, and when it was done, he sagged against the basin, his hands shaking as he dipped it again.

"_**Do you regret this?"**_

"_**Hm?" **__She asked, looking up from an Edgar Allen Poe book, looking at him confused. __**"What do you mean?" **_

"_**I mean us…do you regret being together?"**_

_She stared at him with unfathomable eyes, before setting her book down and sliding over to where he sat, and before he could really stop her, slid onto his waist; effectively straddling and pinning him to the ground. She looked at him with resolute eyes. __**"Never have I regretted meeting you and becoming your girlfriend Regulus. Secret relationship or not, I love you." **__She said. He looked at her and blinked before smiling. She offered a soft laugh and smile before bending down and kissing him._

Now there was pain, pain worse than crucio if only because there was no end to it in sight. He became aware that he was shaking like a leaf, and that Kreacher was staring at him, large eyes wide with concern.

"The water," he said levelly, bringing his body back under control. It was difficult; his legs felt like wet rubber, and he wanted nothing more than to curl up and forget the war, forget the locket, forget everything. But he was Regulus Arcturus Black, and he was strong. He _had_ to be strong. "Watch the water, Kreacher. Not me. Not unless I call you." Without looking at the house-elf again – why would he want to? – he dipped the goblet again, gulping it down. Pain racked him, but he would be strong. He would not let this defeat him.

_She was sitting there in the hospital bed, her face flustered at his declaration that he loved her. She seemed to be trying to come up with an appropriate response, but had only been able to say his name._

His entire body cramping and screaming with pain. Clenching his jaw, he choked down another gobletful.

_She was flustered. It wasn't surprising as he had interrupted her 'dancing' and had entered as her partner, much to his amusement. Gradually she began to smile and then laughed at him as he lifted her up by the waist_.

Pausing, he slumped against the edge of the basin, empty goblet in hand. Every muscle in him rebelled against refilling the goblet, and he was so, so thirsty. He glanced over at the still, dangerous dark water, tempted for a moment, then forced his eyes away and back to the hateful potion – poison, rather, for that was all it really was. The basin was perhaps half-empty; progress, at least, although he shuddered at the thought of forcing so much down.

But force it down he did. Somehow, every muscle in his body shaking, keeping himself upright by sheer will alone, he forced down mouthful after mouthful, goblet after goblet, until only the dregs remained in the basin.

_He saw her running ahead of him in the summer, singing a tune that was incredibly offbeat and definitely off tune. Yet it sounded more melodious than what he had heard previously. He pulled her to him, claiming her mouth with his._

He could probably have reached the locket as it was – there was perhaps half a glass left in the basin, and the locket was almost fully exposed – but it wouldn't have been _right_, somehow.

Swallowing hard – his throat felt raw and painful, as if it had been half scraped away – he dipped the goblet one last time, its rim scraping against the bottom of the basin. His hand was shaking so much that he almost dropped the cup again, but he managed to hold it steady enough to bring it to his lips without spilling any. To tilt it, opening his mouth just a little so that the burning, freezing, _painful_ liquid could dribble into his mouth and down his throat. He hacked, coughed… swallowed.

_**"If I die…I hope I can die in the water."**_

_Cordelia looked at him lazily as they lay on the bank of the river, drying out in the rare sun's rays._

_**"What?"**_

_**"I said if I die…I want to die in the water."**__ He said._

_"__**That's a rather morbid thought."**__ She commented sitting up and staring at him as though to analyze him. He smirked gently as he sat up as well._

_**"Well if what muggles said is true…I'll be purified—which now that I think about it, is an odd choice of words—of all my sins."**__ He said and then sighed bitterly. __**"But that's a lot of sin to wash away."**_

_**"I don't see you as sinful."**__ She said after a moment. He chuckled._

_**"That's because I don't tell anyone what I do. It's safer that way."**_

_**"And yet you carry these burdens by yourself?"**__ she asked. He was silent for a few minutes._

_**"I have to." **__He said softly. She frowned staring at him__**. "But no matter what my burdens are…my regrets…there is one thing I don't regret or feel is a burden."**_

_**"And what's that?"**_

_**"You."**_

It was done.

Casting the goblet aside, where it clattered onto the stones of the island, he forced back the pain racking him from head to toe, reaching out to rake the locket onto the cut on his palm.

"Kreacher…" he croaked, his voice shaking and cracking as though some malign force had wrested control of it. The house-elf was at his side immediately, moving to prop him up, but Regulus shook him irritably away. "I'm fine!" he lied. "Take… the locket. Take it." His breathing harsh and ragged, he pushed the Horcrux into Kreacher's hands, falling forwards against the basin again. The thirst was all-consuming; the pain all-encompassing. Digging in his robes, he plucked out the replacement locket, a close replica he had made from Kreacher's description, which contained what might very well be the last thing anyone else saw of him. With the thirst and the pain and the difficulty of breathing, that seemed more and more likely by the second.

He opened his mouth again, lips trembling, as if he was about to say something, then shook his head sharply and dropped the replacement locket unceremoniously into the empty basin. "Water," he groaned, looking wildly around, his chest heaving. "I need water…" He started towards the water's edge, collapsing onto all fours almost as soon as he left the support of the basin.

Then Kreacher was at his side again, pulling him towards the boat. "The boat," he whispered, tugging at Regulus' arm. "The young master must get to the boat, he must, before _they_ come!"

"Who?" Regulus asked. Everything seemed dim, unimportant, except for the burning thirst.

"The dead." Kreacher shuddered, hauling the young Death Eater closer towards the boat. "The _dead_!"

Regulus shook his head, pulling away, and crawled a little closer to the water. He'd done what he'd come to do, and now it was over. All he cared about was getting rid of that hideous, agonising _thirst_.

Kreacher still tugging at his robes and pleading, _begging_ him not to touch the water, he bent his face down until it almost touched the surface. His reflection stood clear in the darkness, in the dim light of the nearby boat and the brightening light of the basin behind him as it refilled; his face looked almost skeletal in the darkness, greenish and pallid, and indescribably pain-filled. Taking a long, shuddering breath, he bent his head still lower, blood thundering in his ears, and dipped his hands into the water, gulping it down as though it were an antidote to the pain rampaging through every limb. It was cold and tasted of death, but still better than the potion that had come before it, and he was still gulping it down, his head so close that his dangling hair touched the still black surface of the water, when the first hand grabbed his wrist.

With the last of his strength, he wrenched himself away, the thirst washed away by the desperate, primal need to stay alive, but there were more clinging to him already, cold, dead hands, and then cold, dead faces, and then the armies of the dead were rising and leaping and lunging, making the water roil and foam, and Regulus reached for his wand, forcing away the hands that snatched at his arms. His wand wasn't there.

He turned his head, despair rising up in him.

There it was, only a few feet from his flailing arms, but it might as well have been a thousand miles. The inferi were piling onto him, dragging him further away, and then they were reaching for Kreacher, and Regulus couldn't let that happen. Not when Kreacher had the locket.

"Go!" he shouted, his voice trailing to a thin, desperate thread. "Take it! Kreacher, I _order_ you to leave! Destroy it! And tell…" He fought on for a moment, clinging to the rocks with his rapidly failing strength, robes heavy with water, spidery hands clenched all around him. There was no time now. "GO!"

Then he was cut off as water filled his mouth and closed over his head, and there were only the ripples to show that there had been a boy there at all.

_**"It was a pleasure to meet you Miss…"**_

_**"My name is Cordelia Matlock, Mr. Regulus Black."**__ She said, a tone of teasing in her voice. __**"And the pleasure is all mine. I do hope we can meet again someday."**__ She said._

_**"As do I."**_

Her face grew warm, and that soft smile appeared on her face. And slowly that memory began to fade as he was dragged deeper and deeper, and it knowing then that if he had died for anything at all it was for her that he-

* * *

There was a shattering sound and Cordelia looked up from the living room in confusion, before standing up with a grunt from the couch and walking to the kitchen. To her surprise, a teacup that she was sure had been in the cabinet now lay on the ground, shattered into tiny pieces.

"Strange…I could have sworn I put that far enough away when I cleaned it." She murmured. It had been Regulus's cup when he had stayed the morning before. She bit her lip, the uneasy feeling returning to her stomach, causing it to roll as she retrieved her wand and cleaned up the broken china. However instead of tossing the pieces away as she normally would have done, she collected the broken bits in a summoned jar.

She didn't know why.

**SSSSSOOOOO….TA…DA? HAD TO USE A REFERENCE FOR THE REGULUS PART….AND THE ITALIC'S REPRESENT HIM HAVING FLASHBACKS...AND THE ACTUAL LETTER TO CORDELIA WILL APPEAR IN ONE OF THE UPCOMING WLoF CHAPTERS. BECAUSE IT'S GOING TO BE ARIES READING IT 3  
**


	17. BABY

The gala was growing tiresome for Cornelia as she sat there, watching her son and daughter-in-law mingle with important people. She was almost _glad _that it was almost Boxing Day. She sighed as she looked over, glancing at the Blacks. Orion Black was pale and sickly looking. Though he looked better than when he had first been here, he hadn't improved that much. She blinked when someone—who she didn't recognize—walked over to the pair. They glanced at her as though he was filth until she removed her hood for a second, revealing a flash of blonde hair. They then paled and nodded. The trio quickly left. Cornelia glanced at where her son was, and saw that he hadn't noticed, and wasn't paying much attention to her, as he had been doing all week. She quietly got up hurried after them. As she exited the ballroom, the hall was suddenly dark, the echoes of the music the only sound. She saw a light at the end in one of the empty rooms. Slowly and carefully she went to the door and peered in through the crack.

"What are you doing here? Is something the matter?"

"…I came to warn you…"

"Warn us? The Dark Lord isn't coming here, is he?" A feminine voice, most likely Walburga, asked, fear embedded in it. A stab of panic filled Cornelia. However there was no reply like that.

"No Auntie…I came here to warn you. Regulus has vanished. And…"

"Regulus?" Walburga said, panic now becoming increasingly evident. Cornelia froze. "What happened to Regulus? What happened to my baby?"

"Auntie…rumors are circulating…they're saying that he tried to leave…and well…I went to Grimmauld Place, his face on the tapestry..."

"No…nonononono. Not my precious baby." Walburga wailed, before the sounds of sobbing permeated the room and the outside hall. Cornelia covered her mouth in shock, then it occurred to her.

"_Cordelia…"_

She hurried away before the grieving family spotted her. She entered the ballroom, the loud and merry music deafening her. She then went to Andronicus.

"Andronicus." She said. Her son turned to her, a look of annoyance. "I'm going to be returning home."

"Any reason why?" he asked, crossing his arms.

"For one I am an adult, so my reasoning should be my problem and not yours. Two, I have not been feeling well, and I believe I should go home before I possibly infect everyone here." She lied. She didn't necessarily care about lying to him, which saddened her to a point. He recoiled in disgust before nodding. She offered a tight smile before leaving the party, closing the door to the music and hurrying to her room. She quickly undressed out of her party gown, quickly folding it and placing it in her summoned suitcase, changing into her relaxing clothes, though she felt quite the opposite. She flicked her wand around summoning her clothes and placing them in the suitcase. She bolted it closed and then quickly left her room, closing it shut.

* * *

"Mistress Cornelia?" Greda exclaimed in shock the next day. Cornelia gave a warm smile at the house-elf.

"Greda, is Cordelia around?"

"Young Mistress Cordelia is resting in her bedroom. Greda thinks Young Mistress is not feeling well." Greda responded. Cornelia frowned slightly, wondering what could be wrong.

"Greda, take my things and put them in my room. And do not enter Cordelia's room for a little while." She said. The house-elf looked at her mistress confused. She wasn't an enslaved elf, so that order wouldn't really matter, but the way she said it made the tiny elf realize that something was wrong.

"Greda asks…is something wrong with Master Andronicus and Mistress Silvia?"

"No Greda." Cornelia replied, before setting down her suitcase and going up the stairs. She hesitated at the door, listening to the soft sounds of humming. She scrunched her eyes closed, before knocking on the door.

"Come in?" there was question in the voice and she did as the voice said. "Grandmother? What are you doing back so early?" Cordelia asked, sitting on the edge of her bed, confusion washing onto her face. Cornelia was silent, entering the room and sitting down on the bed next to her granddaughter.

"How are you feeling?"

"I'm feeling fine…what are you doing back so early?" Cordelia asked. "I wasn't expecting to see you until Easter." She said.

"I…had to come back." She said. A partial amount of her was glad that her granddaughter was so out of the daily gossip, that way she could be here to tell her herself.

She had known the moment that she had seen Regulus, the way he had looked at her at that party the summer before, and how Cordelia had reacted to him, that those two had been in love. When she walked in on the pair kissing, it had only cemented that knowing. And now she was going to have to tell her probably the worst news…

"Why? Is something wrong with Mother and Father?" Cordelia asked. Cornelia shook her head, pressing her worn hand to Cordelia's. "What's wrong?"

"Cordelia, last night someone visited the Black's."

"You listened in on a conversation?" Cordelia asked, amused for a second. However the grave look on her grandmother's face, slowly wiped the soft smile off of her face and dread began to pool into her stomach, causing the queasiness to grow.

"Cordelia, you're going to have to be strong…"

"Grandma? What's wrong?"

"Cordelia, there was some news…about Regulus…" Cornelia said, and watched the color of Cordelia's face drain away. "Sweetheart, Regulus is…dead."

Cordelia stared at her, not blinking for several minutes. Any expression on her face had vanished, and it seemed that the silence in the room had grown to a loud roar. The edge of her vision began to darken and her grandmother's voice began to become smothered sounding as Cornelia began to frantically say her name, however it seemed to fall onto death ears.

_Regulus is dead._

_Regulus is dead._

_**He's gone…Regulus is gone.**_

* * *

The New Year had come and gone, and students had gone back to Hogwarts. However they were two students short. Regulus…and Cordelia. No one knew why she of all people had dropped, though Cornelia's excuse was that she had gotten incredibly sick. And that wasn't far from the truth. Not only was she in mourning, but the daily bouts of morning sickness, and the general sickness around certain foods, would have made it impossible for her to coexist with the rest of the school population.

Cornelia stared at Cordelia as the younger girl listlessly played with her breakfast, only taking a few bites, but other than that doing nothing. She had been like this since the news about his death, and had gone into a further depression when the paper had announced it. And honestly, she didn't

"Cordelia, I am going to go head out to town for some groceries. Do you wish to come along?"

"…No…I think I'll stay here." Cordelia responded, her voice monotone. Cornelia frowned, before nodding.

"I will see you in a few hours alright?" Cornelia asked. Cordelia nodded, standing and leaving the kitchen. Cornelia sighed, rubbing her hand over the bridge of her nose, before leaving, grabbing her coat and purse on the way out.

* * *

Cordelia stared out the window, looking at the dead trees and the small snow drifts that she could see. She curled up, pressing her chin to her knees. She had never felt this…dead…before. Maybe she had felt like this before she had met Regulus, but now it was painfully noticeable. Too painful. She closed her eyes, pressing her face into her knees. Her heart cracked painfully at each thought of him. Suddenly she felt a bout of sickness and gagged, covering her mouth and jumping away from the window seat, rushing away to the loo, barely making it to the toilet before puking.

After she was finally done exhuming the contents of her stomach, she sagged on the wall parallel to it, taking a deep breath the taste of her vomit still in her mouth. She shuddered in disgust as she finally forced herself up and to the counter and made herself a glass, drinking the contents. She stared at the mirror, and pushed her bangs back slightly.

Merlin, what was happening to her? She had been getting worse and worse…maybe she was dying. She scoffed at that idea. Like she would be so lucky. She had only gotten sick right after…

She blinked, her gaze shifting from her reflection in the mirror, to her still flat stomach. She had only begun to lose her appetite and lose her stomach a day or so after she and Regulus had had sex. Not to mention her period had been late.

"That isn't…" She trailed off, and her eyes widened. She wasn't…was she? Her empty stomach forgotten she rushed to her room, pulling out of her clothes and pulling on some cleaner ones. She slipped on a pair of flats. Grabbing her wand, she rushed down the steps, and before Greda could react and call out to her, apparated away.

* * *

It was odd that she had automatically gone, not her country doctor, instead had gone to the floo channels and had flooed to Mungo's. Maybe she just didn't want anyone who automatically knew her there to spot her. She didn't want to talk to them, and had no reason to. Now she sat there in an empty hospital room, staring at the the empty feeling still there, but maybe not as prominent. Nervousness had now filled her stomach. She glanced up as the door open and blinked as a young woman walked in.

In all honesty, she looked as though she had seen better days. She had several light colored bruises on her form, and a bandaged had been placed over her face. She walked with a slight limp in her left leg.

"Hello, Miss…Cordelia is it?"

"I…yes…" she said, trailing off. "Excuse me for asking, but are you alright Healer…" she began to ask. The woman chuckled slightly pushing back a brown strand of wavy hair behind her ear.

"Prescott. Moria Prescott." The healer responded. Cordelia blinked, feeling her heart drop. This was Sirius Black's girlfriend. "And I'm just peachy. I just had…a…rough last month." She said, laughing slightly at her own joke before clearing her throat, getting down to business. "Now then, you came to Mungo's on the complaint of, repeated projectile vomiting, headaches, and a missed period?" she asked. Cordelia nodded.

Moria offered a slight smile. "Can you lift up your shirt for me?" She asked. Slowly, the other girl did as she was told and flinched slightly as Moria tapped her wand against her stomach, and muttered a spell that Cordelia didn't quite understand. There was a moment of silence and then the rhythmic sound of a heart beat filled the void. At first Cordelia just assumed that it was her heartbeat. It took her a few seconds to realize that the heartbeat was too fast and not in rhythm with the beat that was pounding in her head.

"Is…is that…" she tried to say weakly. Moria smiled at her, her face soft and caring, almost mother like.

"That would be the sound of your baby's heartbeat." Moria said. "Congratulations Miss Cordelia, it seems you are about a month pregnant." She said. Cordelia went into a daze, she stared at Moria as the Healer began to make a few lists and prescriptions for her prenatal, managing to barely nod. She got up to go and as she opened the door, ran into another form.

"Oof!"

She looked up, staring into a pair of grey eyes, that though they were familiar, they were completely different.

"Sirius? What are you doing here?" she heard and moved away as Moria stared at him, an eyebrow raised. Cordelia moved away, glancing at him. He wasn't any better looking than Moria. Like the Healer that had just informed her of her pregnancy, he was covered in light bruises and had some slight scratches on his face. He stood there, smiling sheepishly, before holding up a greasy bag. Cordelia automatically smelled the scent of a muggle fast food chips.

"I was bringing you lunch…Chelsea said…"

"Oh it's alright. Thank you Healer Prescott…" Cordelia said with a slight smile. "I'll be on my way now." She said, before rushing past Sirius and hurrying down the hall. Sirius watched her walk down the hall before turning to look at Moria, who looked amused.

"Did I say something wrong to her?"

"She just found out she was pregnant, and she's about a year or so younger than us." Moria said, walking up to him, her arms crossed. "She's probably in shock. Probably didn't help that you came along acting like a lost puppy that is currently trying to lay the moves of asking for forgiveness for something that I already forgave you for."

"Ah…" he said, and coughed uncomfortably as she chuckled.

"Come on Sirius; let's have lunch before it gets cold." She said, grabbing his free hand and the pair walked the opposite way.

* * *

Cornelia was pacing down the halls of her home, panic filling her body. It had been nearly two hours since Greda had last seen Cordelia, three for her. Oh Merlin, what if she had become so depressed she had gone to commit suicide?

Her head snapped as she heard the door open and close quietly and she rushed around the corner to see Cordelia.

"Cordelia!" she called out, causing her granddaughter to look up as she grabbed her and hugged her tightly. "Oh thank Merlin, I thought you were…"

"You thought I was…what?" Cordelia asked, and then realized. "You thought I was…Grandmother!" she exclaimed.

"Don't act surprised." Cornelia declared. "Running out so suddenly. What were you thinking?"

"I needed to check something."

"Check what?"

"Grandmother...I-"

"Cordelia Lyra Matlock." An icy voice said, and Cordelia froze. She turned around and there stood her parents. Silvia stood there, staring at her daughter with her arms crossed. "Do you mind explaining why a Healer friend of ours owled us to inform us that you had gone to visit St. Mungo's?"

Cornelia stared at her granddaughter, whose face had turned to that of slight surprise. Then she swallowed and looked at her parents. Might as well get it over with.

"I'm pregnant."

**LALALALA~! SO MANY OF YOU GUYS MIGHT BE WONDERING HOW MORIA DIDN'T RECOGNIZE ARIES BECAUSE OF HIS LAST NAME. NOW THAT IS BECAUSE SHE HAD QUITE A FEW PATIENTS AFTER THIS AND SHE'S MET A LOT OF PEOPLE IN THE NEARLY 14 YEARS THAT THEY HADN'T MET. AND THE REASON WHY SIRIUS AND MORIA LOOK LIKE CRAP…IT WAS RIGHT AFTER THAT CERTAIN FIGHT AGAINST DEATHEATERS IN WLoF PART 2.**


	18. CHOICES

Watching her parents reaction, even though she herself had been shocked by the simple fact that a life was now growing in her stomach had been enjoyable to say the least. They're faces had shifted to shock, the color leeching out of their stern faces, their jaws dropping. Then came the denial.

"You can't! You haven't been courted!"

"You haven't even had sex yet." Her mother exclaimed. Cordelia almost laughed, if it had been any other time…she would have. But the thought of this child's father set her mood into a downward spiral.

"Actually…I have…or else I wouldn't be pregnant." she said, her voice soft and almost melancholic.

"Who?!"

She hesitated, knowing that if she was lucky they wouldn't try to murder her. But she knew that it wasn't going to be that easy or she was ever going to be that lucky. She swallowed roughly, forcing her fears down. She had no choice.

"Regulus Black."

They're faces had blanched completely, staring at her in shock. Cornelia looked at her granddaughter in surprise. She was pregnant…with the child of Regulus Black. And then anger bloomed on the other two adult's faces.

"You…you whore!"

"How dare you defile the Matlock name! And after you were explicitly told to not even _associate _with him.' Her father snarled. Cordelia bit her lower lip to stifle her protest as her parents began to rant and rave. Slowly she began to tune her parents out as they called her several unflattering names and wondering how she could be so irresponsible.

"We raised you better than that, Cordelia!"

"Funny, I don't remember you raising me." Cordelia muttered.

"Oh don't you dare start!" Silvia yelled. Cordelia frowned and looked away from her mother and father, who were ranting and raving. Her mother seemed to be brooding.

"I wonder who can brew that potion…"

"It has to be someone who can keep their mouth shut." Her mother muttered a reply to her father. Cordelia's attention snapped back to alert.

"What are you talking about?" Cordelia asked, turning to look at her parents, who seemed to be ignoring her.

"Maybe Irene?"

"No. She's too chatty. Maybe-"

"What are you talking about?!" Cordelia snapped, now standing up from where she had sat down, watching her parents pace.

"We're _talking _about figuring out who will make you a potion."

"A potion?"

"Of course." Silvia said, looking at her child as though she was some disease. "A potion that will get rid of that…that infection that is growing in your stomach."

"Infection?!" Cordelia exclaimed, her hand traveling to her stomach, almost in a protective fashion.

"Of course, you can't be expected to _have _a bastard child." Andronicus said playing with the cuff of his sleeve. Cordelia blinked in horror.

"Of course, you wouldn't be able to marry if you had a child in tow."

"And you could never be a member of society."

"Besides, why would you of all people want to have children?"

Cordelia stared at her parents in mute shock and horror. They were actually thinking about having her abort this child? Yes it was true, she had never thought of herself as mothering material. She hadn't even thought of herself capable of loving a child. She had given up those dreams as a child, for in her mind she was too odd and too different for society's tastes.

However whenever she closed her eyes, thinking about the child that was living in her stomach right then…she wondered what gene's he or she would inherit from Regulus. Would they have his smile, or his brooding nature. And in the pit of her heart, slowly growing, she felt love for this child.

She wanted this child.

"The potion is painless, you have a drink of it and you sleep for a little bit, before you know it that creature will be-"

"I refuse."

Her parents stopped in their instructions, slowly turning to her as she sat back in the chair that she had been given, her arms crossing around her chest.

"What do you mean, you refuse?"

"I mean that I am not going to go along with it. No." Cordelia said. "I am going to have this child, and I am going to _raise _this child." She said her voice light and free of any hatred. Her parents looked incensed by this direct rebuttal.

"Stop this nonsense Cordelia. You can't _honestly _expect to raise a child."

"I can and I am."

"Stop being a spoiled brat and do what you know is good for you. A bastard child will have no standing in the Wizarding Society, and your standing will certainly drop!"

"Funny, I don't remember actually having any standing in the first place. Those were your _exact _words to me when I turned fourteen. And I remember not really giving a damn then, and I certainly don't care about it now. And that is untrue! It's not my status you're worried about!" She exclaimed. "It's _yours_."

"Cordelia Matlock! How dare-"

"I am DONE being your puppet that you can play around so your status rises, I am DONE being your doll that you dress up to put on a show." Cordelia cut in, stopping her parents. "This is MY body! MY life. I CHOSE to have sex with Regulus, just like I CHOSE to be with him. He did not force me, nor did he trick me. I was just as willing as he was." She snarled. "So for this being _MY _life, I can choose what to do with this child. And I choose to have him or her, and to raise them. And I will damn well make sure that I don't turn out like you two!"

Her parents looked stunned at their daughter. This was not the woman they had bred and trained. The Cordelia _they _knew obeyed them, sat there doing as they told.

"Fine. We will have nothing to do with that…that _thing _of yours." Silvia finally said.

"Of course, we'll have to inform the Blacks…since half of that little bastard growing in your stomach is their brat's fault." Andronicus stated. Cordelia blinked, the fear returning into her heart. She didn't want Regulus's parents to know. As far as she was concerned, Regulus's death was their fault. If they hadn't forced their ideals onto him, he wouldn't have joined the Deatheaters—which she was sure had been the reason for his death—and he would most likely still be alive.

"Oh no you won't." She snapped. Her parents looked at her in surprise.

"And do tell us Cordelia," her mother began, her chin jutting out slightly glaring at her daughter with stony eyes, "WHY do you think we should follow your command? Just because you're going to be a mother, doesn't mean you get every command you wish granted."

"You're WILLING to risk your status to try and force a child onto the Black's hands?" Cordelia snapped back. That was her only life line. She had known her parents, watched them and knew their habits. If anything risked their made up high status, they would try desperately to protect their status, no matter who are what got in their way. And as she expected, her parents froze in shock.

"Think about it. Walburga Black is highly known. Do you honestly BELIEVE that for such a woman, gossipers don't watch her every move. Just think, not only do the 'famed' Matlock's have a bastard for a grandchild, but the child is of Regulus Black's, a KNOWN Deatheater." She continued, mentally cringing. She hated bringing up his status like that…to her he had never been a Deatheater. But it seemed the ploy worked. Their faces paled and their eyes grew slightly in the horror of the idea that they would have to be associated with a Deatheater family.

"Fine." Silvia growled. "Keep the brat. But don't you _dare _darken our doorstep."

"I have no intention to." Cordelia informed, keeping her voice firm. Her parents stared at her, as though she was supposed to suddenly change her mind and go flying into their arms begging for them to take her back. When she did no such thing, they glares darkened and the turned on their heels, storming out of the room, slamming the front door shut so hard that there was several small crashing sounds of photo frames falling off of the walls.

Cordelia stood there, taking deep shaky breaths as she regained her composure. Gently she pressed her hand to her stomach, rubbing it softly. She didn't even try to look at her grandmother, too afraid of what her reaction was.

"I'll go start packing."

"Why would you say that?" Cornelia finally asked. Cordelia looked at her in surprise, causing the elderly woman to chuckle. "My grandchild, if I had been so against your relationship with Regulus Black as your parents, I would not have accepted it when I found you two kissing." She said. "But are you sure about not informing the Blacks?"

"In my opinion, Regulus wouldn't be dead if they hadn't forced their ideals onto him." Cordelia said, her voice wavering slightly. "I don't want this child to have those ideals forced onto him or her as they had been on their father."

"What about the older brother? Sirius Black, was it?" Cornelia implored. While she could imagine Cordelia being an excellent mother, she couldn't imagine her going through this by herself. "Do you not think he has a right to know?"

"I'm not saying I'll never tell him. It's just…" she let out a soft breath, pushing her hair back and then let out a weary laugh. "If I can recall Mr. Sirius Black during the school years and if I'm guessing correctly, he's right in the middle of the war going on right now." She explained. "I don't want him to either not believe me which will cause him to think this is just an elaborate trap set by Deatheaters, or him believe me and become distracted." She added. "But I'll move out and be out of your hair."

"You most certainly will not." Cornelia barked causing Cordelia to look at her confused. "You are my granddaughter, that child that is in your womb is my great-grandchild. Your parents may not be welcoming to the baby, but I certainly will be." She said, brushing the few remaining loose and untidy strands from Cordelia's face, pushing them back behind her ear. "Besides…we're family. And family is supposed to help each other."

"Grandma…thank you."

* * *

It was late that night and Cordelia lay in her bed staring at the ceiling. Her hands traveled to her stomach, resting them against the still flat flesh. A baby. She was going to have a baby. She smiled and let out a weak laugh at the thought. But then the thoughts drifted to him, and she felt a slight tear in her heart. He would never know about this new life, never get to hold their child, never get to do anything with or for this child.

She bit her lip in a vain attempt to stifle the growing sobs that were tearing their way up her slender throat. They first came out as dry choking sounds, but it didn't take too long for the sobs that she had been holding back for the weeks since she had been told of his death, to break loose. Her chest heaved in despair as the tears began to slide down her face.

He was gone…truly gone.

* * *

"Mistress Cornelia."

"Yes Greda? What is it?" Cornelia asked, looking up from the book she was reading.

"Greda be walking past Young Mistress's room and hear crying. Greda thinks Young Mistress be the one crying. What should Greda do?" the house-elf squeaked out. Cornelia sighed, placing the book down on her lap.

"Just continue to listen…if she does not stop crying in the next few hours, come back to me and inform me."

"Yes Mistress." The house-elf replied.

Cornelia glanced out her window, staring at the bright moon and the twinkling stars that lay splattered around it. Right then Cordelia needed to mourn.

And she could do nothing to help right then.


	19. HER LITTLE PRINCE

Cordelia sighed softly as she inhaled the sweet smell of the outside. It had been raining for nearly two weeks straight, almost as though the skies were attempting to cleanse the world of the blood that had been stained onto its exterior. But now the sun was shining, there was a soft wind that gave the surroundings a slight chill, and the world seemed to be quiet.

But she knew it was only a farce. Beyond the soft sheltered walls of her grandmother's garden, beyond the home that she was now residing in, a war raged. Here she was safe, but people were dying because of this senseless war…people-

Movement within her stomach startled her for a second, and she looked down at her round stomach, smiling softly.

"Did you feel that Mummy was upset?" She murmured. She felt movement again and against the palm of her hand felt a soft tap. She smiled gently. This baby knew exactly what to do to try and make her feel better. It was so surprising how the feeling dead inside had changed the moment she had found out she was pregnant. Now she had a purpose to carry out, and hopefully she would manage to. Nine months had flown by quickly, and the month was now August. She ran her hands over her stomach, staring out into the skyline as clouds drifted by lazily.

"_Regulus…"_ She thought and it seemed as though the wind answered her, sending a slight gust and causing the discarded leaves fluttering past her. She smiled softly at the thought of his reply.

"I hope you're watching over me…over our child…" She said, her voice soft. Another gust blew past her, before she became aware of someone calling for her.

"Young Mistress shouldn't be so far out!" A loud, squeaky voice called out, panic laced in every syllable. Cordelia rolled her eyes in annoyance, before turning to see the house-elf scurrying over to her. She put a smile on and then chuckled.

"I'm alright Greda." She said, as she and the elf began to walk back towards the house. "Honest Greda, you shouldn't worry so much."

"Greda will always worry about Young Mistress and now Young Mistresses child." Greda said, looking at her stomach with interest.

"Thank you Greda." The pregnant woman replied as they finally reached the cottage. She grunted with each step up the porch stairs, sighing heavily as she finally reached the porch, and ran her hand over her back as a small amount of pain erupted from her lower spine. If there was one thing she missed, it was the ability to move around without feeling as though a sack filled with weights hadn't been attached to her stomach.

"Is Young Mistress alright?" Greda asked.

"I'm fine." Cordelia responded, calming her breathing down. "Let's get inside. I think the baby wants me to eat." She said. She held back a laugh as she spotted Greda shudder, wondering what odd concoction of a meal she would have to prepare as the pair entered.

* * *

"Cordelia?"

The girl in question looked up and spotted her grandmother had entered her bedroom.

"Yes?" Cordelia said, placing the worn book she was reading down and onto her lap.

"How are you feeling?"

"Tired. Uncomfortable." Cordelia answered truthfully and then chuckled slightly. "Large."

Cornelia chuckled in agreement, remembering her own son's birth and the pregnancy beforehand. How such an innocent bundle had changed into this man who wouldn't even accept his own grandchild she was unaware as to how. Maybe he had been so preoccupied with his life to see how his daughter had grown over the past few months.

"Is something the matter?" Cordelia asked. Cornelia blinked out of her thoughts and offered a soft, knowing smile.

"Oh no nothing is wrong…I was just wondering if you have come up with any names for the baby."

"Mhm, two. A boy's name, and a girl's name."

"And they are?"

Cordelia looked at her grandmother amused. "Aries Leonis or Alexa Denebola." She said. Cornelia made no mention of the middle names and their relation to the Leo Constellation. Leonis, and Denebola were obvious hints to the child's father, just smiling instead.

"I've been meaning to ask…whose last name are you going to be using?" Cornelia asked. Cordelia blinked, her hands wrapping around the book cover. "By all accounts this child will be of Black blood, so in a sense, the child given the last name Black is not too farfetched.

"No. He will have my last name."

"May I ask why?"

Cordelia sighed, pushing her hair back behind her head, her eyes distant almost as though she was looking beyond her grandmother.

"The Blacks are well known…but not in a good way at all." Cordelia finally said, looking at Cornelia. She could still remember when she first met Regulus years ago at the gala, and how everyone seemed to fear him simply because of who he was. "To give this child that name, especially without his or her father actually being here…it doesn't feel right, and I don't want the possibility Walburga finding out. Nor do I want him or her to be raised under the stigmata of someone who people believe should be hated."

"Are you going to tell the baby who its father is?" Cornelia asked. Cordelia sighed, running her hand over her stomach.

"Not right away…it will be too hard to answer why Regulus isn't here. I'll explain it them when they're old enough."

"Alright…now then we have to make sure you keep your strength up." Cornelia began to say, causing Cordelia to groan.

It was late that night Cordelia lay asleep, running her hand over her stomach gently as though to ensure that this wasn't all an elaborate dream. Suddenly pain snapped her out of her dreamless slumber, startling her as she awoke. She had had a bad backache all day…but this time it felt different. Suddenly an excruciating pain ripped through her abdomen, and she cried out in pain.

Was it happening right now? No…she was still nearly a week-

Another pain ripped through her abdomen, making her double over and scream. It suddenly dawned on her that the discomfort and small pains she had been suffering the entire day were labor pains.

Labor.

"Young Mistress?"

Her head moved to the entrance door to see Greda's shadowed form at the doorway.

"G-Greda. Greda…I need you to get my grandmother. Pl-EASE!" She said, the last part of her plea turning into a sharp cry, which startled the house-elf. The small creature hesitated, before rushing out towards the hall way, apparently forgetting that she could have easily apparated to the room. Cordelia made no mention of it as she clutched her stomach.

The baby was coming. It was time.

* * *

It had taken only twenty minutes for the midwife and her assistant to arrive, as well as the town's healer, who Cordelia had grown up with to arrive, but it felt like ages for Cordelia, who had taken up the occasional pacing to distract herself as the contractions came quicker and quicker. Finally she couldn't take it anymore and had had to lie down. It seemed that everyone was ignoring her very existence as she lay on her bed, panting loudly in pain.

"I'm worried about her blood pressure." She heard the elderly man say, looking at Cornelia. "Her lower immune system may cause her blood pressure to drop too much. She could-"

"I don't BLOODY CARE! JUST GET THE BABY OUT!" Cordelia managed to scream at the man, startling him and causing Cornelia to laugh. The midwifes looked at each other before walking to them, separating Cordelia's legs and, from what Cordelia could gather from the sudden feeling of intrusion, were checking her dilation.

_Hey Regulus…_

The voices seemed to blur and soften down to a murmur as the sudden instinct to push overfilled her senses. Instinctively she bore down and tried to breathe. She could hear now the sudden calling out of the midwife that sounded reminiscent of 'that's good. You're doing real well!'

_Falling in love is amazing, isn't it?_

Pain came again, and the urge came once more and she started to push again. Her knuckles turned white as she gripped the blanket that she was lying on. She'd had no idealistic fantasies about the process of childbirth, but like so many women before her, she had hoped that it wouldn't be as bad as she heard.

And like all the women before her, she was wrong.

_It can turn a mundane life into a jewel_

Another scream erupted as she bore down again. She could feel the baby's head finally start to emerge. She could hear her grandmother almost chanting at her to keep going; that she was doing so well right then. She didn't know if she was crying or that was sweat sliding down her face. She didn't really care right then.

_Loving someone is amazing, isn't it?_

She had read dozens of books about pregnancy, and a few on the actual delivery of a child. Even so, the pain was unimaginable. Whoever had written those books HAD to have been a bloke…because no sane person would describe the way labor actually felt if they had gone through it. Words were indescribable. Another push and heard the midwife state the baby's head was out. She pushed again as hard as she could, praying that she could deliver the baby quickly. After another push, the baby's shoulders were out, and, despite her exhaustion, she put all of her strength into one final push. She screamed again, but the sound didn't register in her pain and worry filled mind.

_Regulus…_

Slowly the sound of her own scream died out, and she flopped backwards onto the pillows breathing heavily. The ringing in her ears slowly died out, and the ringing was replaced by another sound…a sound that erased any signs of her exhaustion from the forefront of her mind, nearly passing out in relief when she heard the outraged squall from the newborn.

The world became less blurred until she could see clearly as the midwife's trainee, whose name she couldn't recall at the moment, approached her, holding a blanket-wrapped crying bundle that was squirming around angrily.

"It seems you have a healthy baby boy here," the girl told her in a low voice. "Nineteen and a half inches and seven pounds."

And suddenly, the months of the stares from the people as she walked around in town, the odd food cravings, the hours of backaches, the emotional outbursts, the labor, all seemed meaningless as she was handed her son, cradling him to her chest.

He was wrinkled and red, his eyes clamped shut as he screamed at the top of his lungs, loudly protesting at entering this cold world in exchange for leaving the warm safe one he had grown in. His dark hair was matter firmly on top of his scalp. She felt tears—not of pain—slide down her cheeks as she smiled at him.

"Hello Aries Leonis …hello my son." She whispered, kissing his temple softly, as she grazed his tiny fist with her index finger. Her soft hushing softened his cries, and he slowly blinked, opening his eyes just a crack, and staring at her, most likely not seeing her, but the thought that he knew who she was enlightened her. She continued to stare at him, oblivious to the midwife who cleaned her. "My Aries…my darling Aries." She whispered.

Cornelia smiled, feeling her eyes burning as she watched her granddaughter beginning to bond with the infant that now lay in her grasp. The sweat and tears were still evident on her face as the healer checked her vitals, apparently shocked at how well she had handled this pregnancy and labor. She brushed the palm of her hand across her cheeks.

"How about we leave the mother and child alone for a little bit?" She suggested to the other three adults. They looked at her, and she smiled kindly but looked stern. So after finishing with cleaning Cordelia up, and seeing that her vitals were perfectly fine the four adults quietly left, Cordelia paying them no heed as she looked at her son.

Aries had finally quieted down, staring at his mother, whimpering softly as she continued to stroke his cheek. Delicately she kissed his forehead.

"Don't worry my precious Aries, I'll try to be the best mother to you as I can." She said. He squirmed, causing her to laugh.

"My Aries…my precious little Prince. I love you."

**AND THIS WOULD BE WHY ARIES HATES THE NICKNAME PRINCE…BECAUSE IT WAS SOMETHING HIS MOTHER CALLED HIM.**


	20. SICK NIGHT

Cordelia sighed as she ran her hand over the necklace, pressing her finger to the snitch emblem on the front. She rarely took it off nowadays. Sighing she stared at the snow covered grounds of her grandmother's home. Christmas, 1980. About five months since Aries had been born. Sighing, she moved away from the window and going to the couch, sitting down and pulling out a book. She hardly opened to the first page when Aries started crying upstairs. With a sigh, Cordelia got up and headed for the nursery. Aries was wailing at the top of his little lungs, his eyes squeezed shut and his face screwed up.

"Sssh, my little Prince." Cordelia murmured, lifting the screaming baby out of his crib and rocking him a little. Aries's cries tapered into little whimpers as he opened his eyes to see who was holding him. His crying quieted further when he saw it was his mother, but didn't diminish.

"It's alright, Aries. I'm here. I'm here."

Aries quieted a little at her soothing voice and Cordelia was momentarily reassured. "I thought you were going to sleep for another hour, but I guess you've got other plans, huh?"

Aries gurgled in response.

"Alright…are you hungry?" Cordelia asked. Aries stared up at him, fingers in his mouth. Cordelia took that for an "I guess so" and walked over to rocker nearby, sitting down. She moved her shirt with her free hand and within seconds Aries began to nurse. Humming softly in an off-tune beat, she began to rock, her free hand gently gliding over his dark fringe that covered his skull.

She frowned as he finally relinquished his claim on her breast, staring up at her.. He was being unusually quiet. Ordinarily Aries would squirming around, fussing at the need to be burped, but not tonight.

"You bored?" she asked as Aries was staring off into space, chewing on his fingers again. "Let's go get some of your toys. You like that snitch your dad got for you, don't you?"

She carried Aries into the living room and sat him down on the floor, opening the toy box in the corner and began pulling things out. A stuffed golden snitch that fluttered a few inches off the floor was his favorite, but she pulled out some other plushies.

Aries grabbed the snitch and shook it a bit, then started sucking on it. He didn't seem interested in the other toys. Cordelia frowned. This wasn't like Aries. Usually he was into everything. He hardly ever sat still or stayed quiet for any period of time.

"Chsh!" the little snitch tumbled out of Aries's hands as the little boy sneezed.

"Bless you, Aries," Cordelia smiled, picking up the fluffy, droolly snitch and offering it back to Aries. Aries didn't take it. He was rubbing at his eyes and nose with a tiny fist. "Chsh!"

"My goodness, bless you again," Cordelia said, now frowning a little. She pulled Aries back into her arms as Aries gave a couple of little coopy coughs. "Are you unwell?" Cordelia asked, looking down at him worriedly. Aries looked up at him, and Cordelia noticed that his cheeks seemed flushed and his eye a little glassy. She put a hand on Aries's forehead, but to her relief it didn't seem that warm to her.

"Chsh!" Aries sneezed again and this time he started whimpering. The little boy leaned against Cordelia's chest and buried his snotty, droolly face in her nightgown. Worry began to eat at her. What if his immune system was as weak as hers? Oh Merlin, she would never forgive herself if that was the case. Cordelia carried Aries back into the kitchen and wiped his face clean of drool with a warm cloth. Then, since Aries seemed so tired, she took him upstairs and rocked him until he fell back to sleep. He squirmed as she laid him down. He whined loudly when she began to tuck him in, and she bit her lip worriedly.

Maybe she should summon Cornelia…no, she was at some dinner with her parents. She didn't want to interrupt that and risk her parents meeting Aries. She was on her own. She went to the bookshelf nearby and began to leaf through a few mother books that Cornelia had purchased several months ago for her. It was a few hours later that Aries started whimpering again. Cordelia threw the book aside and hurried back to the crib. All she'd learned was you weren't supposed to give babies or small children pepper-up potion because it would cause them to have a weak immune system and that only a very watered down cough potion was safe for something like a cold.

Aries threw his little arms up for Cordelia the moment he saw her and began to cry, thick tears sliding down his cheeks. Cordelia scooped him up and began to rock him. Aries started coughing again and this time they sounded worse. Cordelia frowned.

"Chsh!" Aries sneezed for the fifth time in as many minutes. Cordelia didn't even care that it was right into her shoulder. She was rummaging through the cupboards, trying to find something she could give Aries to make him feel better. But he couldn't find anything. He closed the cupboard with a sigh and looked down at the baby in his arms.

"I'm sorry Aries, I can't find anything to make you better. Guess we'll just have to tough it out, huh?" Aries rubbed at his nose and sniffled. Then he sneezed again. "Chsh!" He looked up at Cordelia with huge miserable grey eyes and Cordelia felt her heart break a little because she couldn't make it better. She was an awful mother…

Then an idea struck her.

She remembered so many times when she was sick, Cornelia sitting next to her, reading a story until she could no longer stay awake, and would fall asleep. "You know what always used to make me feel better? Getting my mind off it. Why don't we go look for a story and I'll read it to you, what'd you say?"

Aries shifted, and taking that as a yes, Cordelia went back to the bookshelf again, and pulled out a brightly illustrated copy of The Tales of Beadle the Bard that she had had since she was a child and settled on the rocking chair with Aries in her lap, his tiny head resting on the crook of her arm.

"How about 'The Fountain of Fair Fortune'? That's a good one. You'll like it." He opened the book and began to read aloud with Aries curled against his chest. Every now and then Aries would stretch out his little hand and grab onto the page, gurgling and squealing over some brightly-colored moving drawing, or else simply because he liked to make Cordelia pause in her reading and pry the page free of Aries's vice-like grip.

About half-way through the story, the little boy settled down and rested her head on Cordelia's chest, coughing every now and then. Cordelia was worried by the way the coughs shook his tiny body. When she finished the story, she looked down at the baby curled up on his lap, sniffling and rubbing at his nose and eyes. Suddenly his head bucked forward and Cordelia heard a volley of very congested little sneezes. "Chsh!… Chsh!... Chsh!"

"Bless you, Aries!" Cordelia exclaimed, but the little boy had already started coughing, his little frame shaking with the effort. Cordelia pulled him into a better position and started rubbing his back soothingly. Aries began to cry in misery, wiggling around in Cordelia's arms and burying his face in his shoulder.

"It's okay, Aries. Mummy's here." Cordelia mumbled, standing up and beginning to pace the room. Aries quieted some to the motion, sticking a fist in his mouth and whimpering. She hesitated. She didn't really like any of the other tales in the children's book…but what could she use?

There was a thud that startled her, and she looked up to see a darker book had fallen onto the ground. Curious, she gripped Aries tightly to her and walked over, picking up the book and glancing at the title.

'_**The Complete Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe'**_

She stared at the novel in confusion, then something dawned on her.

"Regulus?" She murmured, and then let a small chuckle out. "Scarring our son already. Got it." She said, picking up the book and returning to the rocker. "How about this one Aries?" she asked. He stopped whimpering and stared at the book cover. "It may not seem like a lot you right now, but this is made by my favorite author, and to be honest I think your father liked him too." Cordelia kept talking, as she paced returned to where she had been sitting, hardly aware of what she was saying, but keeping her voice calm and soothing. As she passed the side table, she plucked a tissue from the box and wiped Aries's face clean as best she could one-handed. Aries's whimpers quieted and nestled into Cordelia's shoulder as she sat down, opening the book. She closed her eyes as she listened to the familiar creak of the book, most likely due to its' excessive use, pausing for a second. She glanced down at Aries before, she began to read the first poem. This was how they found them when Cornelia slipped through the front door an hour later.

"Merlin, what are both of you still doing up?"

"He's sick," Cordelia said softly and as though on cue Aries scrunched up his tiny features and –

"Heh…heh Chsh! Chsh! Heh-Chsh!" and then he started coughing.

"I read your healing book, but I couldn't find anything in the cupboard for him." Cordelia said apologetically. "I'm sorry! I should have sent for you as soon as he started coughing, but I didn't–"

"You did wonderful, Cordelia," Cornelia cut across him. "For a first time mother, dealing with a sick child can be somewhat traumatic."

"But I should have known-"

"No one knows right off the bat what to do for a child." Cornelia interrupted. Children don't come with instructions. But you were doing pretty good I'd say. You nearly had him asleep, and let me tell you, putting a sick baby to sleep is not easy." She paused for a moment. "You're gonna make an excellent mother, Cordelia."

Cordelia blushed and mumbled something indistinct.

"He's asleep." Cornelia said, and Cordelia glanced down. True to her grandmother's words, her son was asleep in her arms, his breathing relaxed. She sighed in relief and then stood up, setting Aries back into the cot. He shifted in his sleep, his tiny fist going to his mouth and he began to suck on it. She smiled at her little infant.

Her little prince.

**SOME CUTESY STUFF. DO YOU GUYS WANT ANY FLUFF IN PARTICULAR? READ AND REVIEW.**


	21. RAIN

"Mama! Mama!" she heard and turned to see Aries waving his arms around at her as he rushed over to her. She sighed and then went to him, smiling softly at him.

"What are you doing my little prince?" She asked sweetly. The five year old laughed as he clambered onto her lap, her lifting the linen she had been sewing just in time to avoid his muddy feet. She smiled as he rested against her, babbling to himself. So much had happened in five years.

She hadn't managed to tell Sirius Black of his nephew. He had been arrested nearly a year after Aries's birth, and though she had always found the circumstances to his arrest odd, and even hard to believe, she had very little evidence and no reason other than being the mother of his nephew that he had no notion of knowing.

She had changed as well, she mused, playing with the tips her shortened hair. After an episode with Aries involving a pair of scissors, she had had to cut her hair. Now it reached just below her shoulder, and she tied it up to a low ponytail, the end flopped over her shoulder. She wore a simple light green dress that reached just below her knees, a white apron tied over it. She smiled slightly to herself. She wondered what Regulus would have thought about her and her new appearance.

She blinked, returning to reality when something was placed on top of her head. She looked at Aries who was smiling broadly at her, his chubby cheeks a light pink. She delicately felt the top of her head. A crown of flowers. She blinked again and then smiled.

"Who knew my little prince was so creative." She stated, running her hand through his hair. He laughed happily, curling up to her.

"Can you read the Raven?" he asked. She looked at him.

"But I've read it twice. Just today."

"But it's my favorite." Aries argued in his five year old voice. She sighed and then laughed, reaching to the basket that held their lunch, and retrieved the aged book. She flipped through the pages, finally landing on Edgar Allen Poe's poem the Raven. There she began to read the verses over and over again, feeling Aries relax in her hold, his breathing lightening as sleep began to take its grip on him. She smiled and then after a few minutes when sleep had fully taken its hold, set the book quietly down, just cradling her son to him. It was so quiet, so peaceful.

"Regulus, I hope you're watching over him." She whispered softly as she brushed Aries's bangs with her hand. He shifted in his sleep, murmuring softly. She smiled. The wind began to blow hard. The threat of a thunderstorm was becoming more and more eminent. She sat up and managed to collect everything with Aries still on her lap, then she slowly stood up, clutching Aries with one hand, pressing him to her. His tiny head rested on her shoulder, one arm wrapping around her neck, clutching the back of her shirt with his tiny fingers. She began to walk back towards the cottage that she lived in, just adjacent from Cornelia's home. She and Aries resided there, a small family. That was all she needed. As long as Aries was happy and healthy she didn't care. The wind began to blow, causing goosebumps to slide up her bare arms, the heat of the summer day slowly ebbing away with the promise of rain. The humidity stuck to her though, making the trip back to the cottage from the field slightly annoying. Finally she arrived back home just as the first drops of rain began to fall, soon after the torrential down. She stared out through the porch as the roar of the rain became a steady beat, a thunder clap echoing seconds after a flash of light streaked through the sky.

That awoke Aries up with a startled squeak. She chuckled, rubbing the back of his head. "Don't worry Aries, the thunder won't hurt you." She commented softly. He nodded into her neck, peeking out to stare at the yard in front of the house, being saturated by the rain.

"Mama?"

"Yes?"

"Is the skwy swad?" He asked, causing her to look at him. "Is that why it's crwying?"

"That's a good question." She murmured.

"Does that mean where Daddy is, Daddy's swad?"

She snapped her attention back at Aries, staring at him though he seemed to be unaware of her startled look. He was just looking out into the world beyond the porch, with inquisitive grey eyes. She swallowed, a sudden lump in her throat making it difficult to breathe. She blinked rapidly.

"I don't know my little prince." She finally whispered. "Maybe he is."

* * *

It was later that night, the rain still falling as hard as it had that afternoon, though the thunderstorm had long since passed. Cordelia stared into Aries's room, looking at the little boy that lay asleep in the cot, clutching a plush animal that Cornelia had made for him years ago. He murmured softly in his sleep, curling up under his blankets. She silently closed his door, staring at the wood, the abnormalities in it, the grooves that had been made when the tree had been standing, the rings that had marked each year it stood tall, growing until its life was cut short and it was knocked down, logged off and made into this door. Those markings were the only proof that it had once been more than door at one time.

Aries was still too young, she thought as she walked around her home. Too young to be told that what he had said that afternoon had affected her more than he could ever imagine. Too young to learn that his father would never come home. That he was dead. How could she tell a five year old that?

"_When he's a little bit older."_ She finally decided. When he was a little bit older he would be told the whole truth about his identity. His father's identity. But how old? She stared out the porch window, staring at the falling rain. Slowly, if not a bit timidly, she opened the door, and exited. The rain immediately began to soak her as she just stood in the rain. She looked up in the black sky. The rain dripped down her face, sliding down her cheeks and chin.

"Reg, what am I supposed to do?" She whispered out, her voice broken. Nothing answered her and she bit her bottom lip as the rain fell to the ground, the only sound that substituted the silence was the roar of the rain.

* * *

It had been raining for a few days now, when Sylvia arrived at the household. Cordelia offered a glance to her mother before looking at her grandmother in question. Cornelia could only shrug, she didn't have much idea either.

"Mother…what a pleasant surprise." Cordelia stated coolly, as Aries ran over, standing behind her and staring up at Sylvia. The older woman offered a cool look to the toddler boy, who sunk further behind his mother's skirt. Cordelia glared angrily. "Mother." Sylvia looked back at her, a strict look on her face. Cordelia glanced at Aries and offered a soft smile. "Aries, why don't you go and play in your room?"

Aries hesitated, before nodding and walked slowly away to his room, glancing at his mother. Cordelia waited until she heard the door close, before looking at her mother.

"What do you want?"

"I came here to talk."

"About what?"

"About Aries."

Cordelia blinked in surprise, and then narrowed her gaze, her protective instincts beginning to rise.

"Aries is my son. Not yours."

"He is just as much my grandson as he is your son." Sylvia said with a sniff, as though she abhorred that idea. "I came here to discuss what boarding school he will be placed in."

"When he's of age, he will be going to Hogwarts. Just like every ten or eleven year old wizard and witch."

"I mean from his age now till he is nine." Sylvia corrected. Cornelia looked at her daughter-in-law in surprise. Cordelia did as well, her eyes wide. "You did when you were younger and-"

"And if you remember correctly, I HATED it." Cordelia snarled. "I begged you both for you to take me home. And you expect me to subject my SON to that?" she exclaimed in disbelief. Sylvia sniffed.

"He'll be fine. Besides the fact he's a bastard son." Sylvia stated. "Who would miss that unwanted piece of flesh-"

Cordelia snapped.

She swung her hand up, smacking her mother hard across the face, sending the older woman stumbling and slamming into the nearby wall. Sylvia held her cheek as though it had shattered off, staring at her daughter in what looked to be muted fear and shock. Cordelia was incensed.

"Don't you _dare_ call my son that word. He may be a bastard to you and Father, but he never was or is to me. He is my son. Someone I carried for nine months inside of me, someone I've loved for five years. And if you expect me to discard him like you discarded me, you must be more moronic that I thought." She growled. "Get. Out. Before I go and retrieve my wand and force you out."

Her mother stared at her in shock, before her eyes narrowed at her daughter. "You won't be able to protect that little bastard forever, Cordelia. Soon he'll have to learn the cursed blood that runs through his veins. He'll-" She stopped when Cordelia pulled out her wand from her apron pocket, the danger obvious in her eyes.

"I'm not going to warn you again." Cordelia said in a cool voice. "Get out." Sylvia stared at her before letting a sniff of indifference, and tightened her grip on the ends of her coat, before turning on her heel and storming out of the doorway. Cordelia gritted her teeth.

"That…that _horrid_ woman." She growled out. "She doesn't visit for nearly five years, and she comes here to try and force me to send my son away! I bet you the moment he was gone, she would start trying to find people for my hand."

"Cordelia?"

"Am I being swent away?"

The women turned to see Aries standing there, clutching a muggle action figure toy, his grey eyes becoming glassy with the warning of tears, and his bottom lip was quivering. "Did I do swometwing wong?"

"No!" Cordelia exclaimed, rushing to her son and picking him, cradling him to her. He clutched her shirt, pressing his face into the crook of her neck. "No, no, no Aries. You did nothing wrong." She whispered. "Mummy would never send you away."

"Pwomise?"

"I promise my little Prince." She said. "You aren't going anywhere you don't want to go." She soothed. He made a small whimpering sound. She shushed him softly, rubbing the back of his head. "I won't let you."


	22. ALL GOOD THINGS COME TO AN END

"Miss Matlock, I fail to understand why you decided to come here of all places." An old weathered man spoke, folding his hands and allowing his chin to rest on them. "You are a young woman, full of life. Why create a will at this point and time?" He asked. Cordelia offered a soft smile, shifting slightly in her robes. The muggles had the right idea when it came to clothing. These things were _uncomfortable_.

"I just want my son to be safe in the off chance something does happen to me." She replied, her voice soft.

"You didn't come along with your parents?"

"Considering I'm not on speaking terms with them, no I did not." She replied coolly. "I do not want their influences hampering with the dealings of my life. Or my son's." She remarked. He nodded, apparently understanding right away. He lifted his wand and with a flick several sheets of parchment and a vial of ink shot to his desk. He pulled out his quill and looked at her gingerly.

"So…shall we start?"

"Yes."

* * *

"Aries!"

The little boy looked up from the playroom that the daycare had. A small girl with light blond hair tied into two braids had ambled over to him, dressed in her winter coat.

"Where's your Mummy?" The little girl asked innocently. Aries shrugged, continuing to play with a toy truck. The little girl gave a bright smile.

"My daddy came to pick me up." She chirped, looking at the door. He did the same and saw a man standing there, chatting with the teacher. The man then looked over to the little girl and grinned widely, bending down to where he was at their level. The little girl smiled and turned to look at Aries. "I hope you have a fun Christmas."

Aries offered a slight smile and waved at the little girl as she dashed over and tackled her father, who merely laughed at his daughter's antics, before thanking the teacher and leaving. What was the girl's name again? Grace? He didn't really remember, and he went back to playing with his truck, trying to ignore when dads came to pick up their children. Still…it confused him. Why didn't his dad never come and pick him up? GranGran or his mother were the only ones he ever saw, picking him up. Why was that?

"Aries."

He looked up and spotted his mother in the doorway. He smiled brightly, his thoughts about his father forgotten, and scrambled up, rushing over to his mother, and colliding with her legs.

"You're late." He scolded, looking at her with a frown. She chuckled, running her hand through his hair.

"I'm sorry my little Prince." She cooed, and he blushed, shoving his face into her skirt. She chuckled and then looked at the other adult. "Sorry I took so long."

"Oh it's quite alright." The other woman commented, smiling down at Aries. "He was a little angel."

"That's good." Cordelia commented with a smile, ruffling her son's hair again. A few minutes later after Aries had been dressed in his winter coat and the pair were walking down the slushy road, him gripping her hand tightly.

"Mama?"

"Hm?" Cordelia asked, looking down at her son, who was staring down the road. He then looked up at her.

"I'll always be your prince…right?" He asked quietly. She looked at him in confusion, pausing in her step as her brow furrowed.

"Of course you will…is something the matter?" Did someone tease you?" She asked. He shook his head.

"I just wanted to be sure." He murmured, looking at her with a soft smile. She bent down to him, stopping his walking as she gripped his arms, effectively trapping him.

"Aries…no matter what happens to me…I want you to know I will _always_ love you." She stated, looking into his silver eyes. He bit his lip and nodded, almost in a jerking fashion. She kissed his forehead and picked him up. He clung to her, but didn't cry. He was five. And five year olds didn't cry.

"Aries…"

"Did Father not want me?" He finally asked. Cordelia stilled, staring at her son with shocked eyes. "I-I mean…he's not here…he's never been. So did I…did I fail him?"

"Aries…no." She whispered, a lump growing in her throat. She cupped his face. "Aries, he is probably the proudest man for having you for a son."

"But why isn't he here?" He whispered. She swallowed, burning prickling her eyes.

"He…died…sweetheart."

"From what?"

She swallowed thickly, barely managing to stop the tears. "I don't know. He died before I even knew I was pregnant."

"…Oh…"

That simple statement, that was what almost destroyed her. There was just understanding. If only life could be seen through the eyes of a five year old. Then there would be no killing…if only.

"Let's go sweetheart." She whispered, finally managing a smile on her face, and once again the pair began walking.

"…I want to see him. Dad." Aries murmured after several minutes of silence. Cordelia shut her eyes, pushing back the tears.

"…So do I, sweetheart. So do I."

* * *

Cordelia smiled fondly as she watched Aries playing in the backyard, laughing as the snow continued to fall serenely down to the ground. It had been falling all night long, so it was just enough for the little boy to run around in, making snow angels and become a wild child, without a care in the world. Like a little boy clearly deserved to do several weeks before Christmas. She chuckled as she drew her shawl closer to her, withholding a shudder as she walked away from the window, going to the kitchen to begin to make dinner. She stumbled slightly, shaking her head to rid herself of a sudden bout of dizziness. That had been happening multiple times lately, she thought. At first she had merely assumed that she was gaining a cold, but this time it was different. The dizziness refused to leave. She shook her head and looked up staring at the ceiling, watching some cobwebs that had been missed in the recent cleaning. A spider crawled on one, gliding over the web as it spotted a frantic moth trying desperately to flee from the web's trap.

For some reason as she watched the murder of this moth by the spider, a conversation that had been years ago, the speaker having died years after slowly crawled into her mind. She had only been thirteen when she had met the old man, as she had been on one of her walks. He was dirty, his clothes ragged. And he was so sick. Yet she had felt a kinship to him that it seemed she did not have with anyone else. She had visited him nearly every day, until he had told her he was to die soon, merely smiling when she had suggested him going to a healer, shaking her head as though she was a foolish child, pointing at the faded vision of the moon that had been in the sky for several hours.

_The moon peers down on a diseased world…There is no cure for the disease, an entire race walks mindlessly into destruction. Not even a man of colossal power, would be able to prevent the inevitable._

At the time she had wondered what he had meant. But now she knew. Death. No one was immune to it. No one could ever defeat or trick death. It was inevitable. But there was one thing that she thought differently of his comment. The entire race did not walk mindlessly to its own destruction. No, the human race was well aware of its inevitable death. Because while some fought endlessly and in vain to conquer death, others chose how they died…maybe as proof of being able to control their own destiny…but…wasn't there another?

"Isn't that right Regulus?" She whispered, her vision moving to where she was staring out into the snow. "The moment you find the courage to give up your life for someone…that would be the moment you understand love, right?" She asked to the still air.

Suddenly it was like a vice had wrapped around her heart, squeezing it tightly. She made a chocking sound, and stumbled forwards, gripping the kitchen counter tightly to try and stay conscious. But it seemed that nothing would sway the numbing darkness that flooded her vision. She felt her legs go weak and she managed to slide down to the ground slowly, before gravity took hold of her and she fell completely to the ground. Darkness took its hold on her and slowly she sank into oblivion.

* * *

"Mama!" Aries yelled out as he opened the door, his cheeks red from the cold, and his dark hair speckled with snowflakes. In his gloved hands was a small snow bunny. "Mama, look what I made! Mama?" He called out, now in question as she made no reply, no footsteps sounding to cross the entrance. He frowned. He hadn't seen her leave. "Mama?"

He closed the door, ignoring that he was dragging in snow into the halls. Something wasn't right. It was too still. "Mama? Ma-"

The rest of his call stopped abruptly as he turned into the dining room of the home. He stared at the limp form that lay just beyond the dining room table, a limp hand lying extended above the head, the form crumpled in a heap.

"Mama? M-Mum? MOTHER!" Aries cried out, the snow that he had been holding dropping like a stone, and rushing over to the body of his mother, crying out to her over and over again. She merely groaned, her face sickly pale, her eyes remaining closed. Gaining no response, he scrambled away, and raced out the door, yelling for Cornelia. Cordelia opened her eyes a sliver, though the world was blurred, slowly falling back into the darkness.

_You and I have scars that don't fade._

_These are scars that cross each other._

_Carved into our lives._

_Waiting until they cross and meet again._

* * *

Cordelia glanced at the doctor who was currently checking her heartbeat, a frown set on his face. Aries lay just under the doctor's hands, pressed against his mother's lap, shifting slightly, but stilled when Cordelia ran her fingers through his hair. He was asleep, emotionally exhausted from the whole ordeal. Cordelia's frown deepened.

"How bad?"

Healer Robin was silent for several minutes and then sighed, looking at Cornelia, who stood at the foot of the door and back to Cordelia.

"Miss Matlock-"

"Just tell me." Cordelia interrupted. Silence greeted them again and he shook his head.

"I'm sorry…there isn't anything I can do. Your body…it is literally tearing itself apart. It must be the result of a curse, but I don't know what curse or if there is a cure. It's honestly a miracle you've survived this long."

There was a gasp from Cornelia, but Cordelia was silent. Cool. Calculating. As though she had known that she had been living off of borrowed time.

"How long?"

"I can't…" He stated. "The curse has made it to your heart…Miss Matlock, I'm sorry but…"

"I'm going to be dying soon, aren't I?"

"Cordelia, don't say that." Cornelia begged. Cordelia however merely glanced down at her son, and then at Healer Robin. She wanted the truth. He looked at her and then away.

"A few weeks at most…" he finally stated, his voice soft. Cordelia swallowed, and looked down at Aries, letting those words sink in. A few weeks…she only had a few weeks left…

It was later that night, as she stared through the windows, at the clear dark nights, only illuminated by the moon reflecting against the snow covered surface. A small form shifted against her side and she looked down to see Aries curled up in her bed next to her, having refused to leave her side. Maybe somewhere in his mind, he already knew the prognosis. Shifting slightly, she grabbed a piece of parchment, and a quill. With her wand, she summoned a vial of ink, and turned on a nearby lamp, dimming it slightly.

She didn't know how long she would have with being able to move…so she might as well get this prepared for him. Yet she paused. What could she write to him about? Even though he was mature for his age, surprising so many with his keen mind, and his personality, but he was still so young…chances were Cornelia wasn't giving the letter to him right away. How could she write in a letter that she would miss so much? Him going to Hogwarts, being sorted, into a house that she prayed wasn't Slytherin, him meeting a girl, watching him actually get married, have children…there was so much that she wasn't going to be there for…yet how could she tell him all that she wanted to say in a single letter? Suddenly as though inspiration hit her, she realized what the one piece of information she would divulge, and her reasons for hiding the secret.

She bit her lip and then began to write.

'_My dear little Prince….'_

* * *

Aries sat next to his mother, clutching a worn novel to dear life as he read word for word from the Edgar Allen Poe's poem _A Dream_. He had been doing that every day, sitting next to his mother, reading the words. At first she had helped him read the words, but now she was too weak, barely able to lift her head up. She had worsened considerably in the past few weeks. Her pale flesh had grown a grayish tint around the edges, dark bags under her eyes becoming prominent. Though his family had assumed he had been asleep when they helped her change into clean bed wear, he had seen dark lesions crawling up her form, forming angry splotches of skin crawling up her waist, as though they were warring with her body, gaining ground closer to her heart. It scared him…so much. She couldn't do anything with him anymore. She mostly spent time, lying in the bed, staring at the ceiling, only smiling and commenting ever so often, as though it took all her strength to do so.

But by now he had memorized the book, so she didn't need to tell him how to say a word. He felt her hand brush through his hair, and he stilled, reveling in the touch. An illness…that was what his great-grandmother had told him, but it seemed odd to him. How could an illness hit so quickly, and so violently? But she wouldn't lie to him, would she?

"…ries?" Came a breathy whisper and he looked up, innocently at his mother's half open eyes. Pushing back his own tears, he swallowed and began to read again, thumbing the page. Every page was worn down, the drawings that had surrounded the pages, faded and barely visible unless one squinted really hard. He just wanted to be here for her, every waking second.

He perked up when he heard the tapping sound of rain hitting the window. He crawled off the bed and went to the windows, which had been opened to allow cool air to flow through the room. Shoving a chair in front of it, he crawled onto it, and pulled the window down, satisfied with the click, and locking the window.

"Aries…" Startled, he looked back over to her and saw she was now staring at him, her eyes opened barely a fraction. Timidly, he walked over to her and watched as she raised a weak hand, running it through his hair, smiling at him tiredly.

"You're such a big boy…aren't you? Mummy is so…proud…"

"Mum…I don't want you to go…" He whimpered. She offered a soft laugh and then patted the bed. Diligently he crawled up there, lying next to her, staring at the fabric. He only looked up when she ran her hand through his hair.

"Everyone dies eventually Aries."

"But I need you…"

"Shh. There now. It's going to be all right. You'll see." She soothed. He shook his head, the tears that he had managed to keep from falling, finally sliding down his face as she rubbed his cheek.

"Why do you have to go?" He whispered. She was silent and for a second, he assumed that she had fallen asleep. But then she shifted, running her hand over his arm, warming the cool flesh. The rain was growing harder now, the patter on the window becoming a steady rhythm of frozen rain.

"Everything has its season. Where one thing falls, another grows. Maybe not what was there before, but something new and wonderful all the same."

"But I'll be alone."

To that she gave a soft laugh and kissed his forehead. "I'll always be with you. Even when you can't see me, I'll be there."

"But I want to see you. It's not fair!"

"Nothing in this world is fair, Aries." She explained. He bit his lip to stop the wail that wanted to come out. She gave a soft laugh, looking at the wall behind him. "We humans really are weak creatures." She continued. He wondered where this strength was coming from, but he couldn't stop it…he wanted to hear her talk. "But that's why we can strive to become stronger. Even if you feel it's useless, each step we take leads to something great. That's why I'm sure we'll be able to change. Because we're weak…and because death is inevitable…Humans try their best to live and end up becoming stronger. But no matter what Aries…I want you to promise me something…"

"What?"

"Never lose sight of yourself. You can strive for greatness…but don't change because of it. Don't let anyone try to change you. I love my prince as is…so no changing, understood?"

Swallowing he nodded and she smiled again, this time brighter for only a few moments, before it softened and grew weaker. He blinked as he realized her breathing was growing quieter as well.

"Mum?"

"I love…you…my little…prince…" She murmured, kissing his brow.

"…I love you too…" He finally whispered. She smiled against his brow, her eyes slowly closing. Darkness was slowly covering her vision, and it seemed she was going deaf. She could hear Aries now calling for her, though it was slowly growing muffled. She ran her hand through his hair, staring at him, but not really seeing him.

"Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary, Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore…" She whispered, staring at him, her eyes glazed with what he knew was coming. He was crying now, and she kissed his brow again. His breath became hot against her neck as he finally sobbed, gripping her nightgown as she shuddered and then all was still. Hot tears slid down his face, and he swallowed.

"Quoth the Raven 'Nevermore.'"

* * *

It was so quiet, Aries thought dimly as he sat on his bed, staring at the bare ground. Nothing was in his room anymore. He was moving to his Great-Grandmother's, where he had already set up a room…as was his mother's will. That very thought brought a prickling in his eyes, which he hastily pushed his sleeve over. He wasn't going to cry. Not right then.

"Young Master Aries." A high squeaky, though squeakier than normal, called out. He looked up to see Greda standing there, her big eyes glassier than normal. "Mistress Cornelia is asking about you."

"Thanks…" He murmured and moved off of the bedspring, pushing his arm under his nose and walked out of his room. As he walked down the hallway, it was as though the ghosts of the past wanted to relieve every moment in there. His first steps, his first word, his first scrape, helping her with cooking, him learning to read.

So much had happened in this small bungalow, and now he was leaving it. He didn't want to…but he needed to. He had heard so many people telling him that he needed to mourn. But couldn't they tell that he was mourning? That this was how he was saying goodbye. Shifting uncomfortably, he entered the parlor and spotted Cornelia standing there, dressed in black.

"Are you ready, Aries?" She asked. He offered a nod, his eyes dulled. Gingerly she gripped his hand and the pair exited the bungalow. Aries glanced back one last time, before gripping his great-grandmother's hand tightly and the two set off.

* * *

The funeral was too quick. At least in Aries's opinion. Sure, his mother had virtually no friends who came over, and most of the guests were there on his grandparent's behalf, but it should have been longer. He remembered staring at her casket, staring at her form. She was wearing a simple dress, nothing extravagant. Something that was her. A dark green dress with a long grey sweater covering that. It looked comfortable…something she would have worn. He was glad for that…that she wouldn't have to wear something uncomfortable when she was buried. But now he stood in front of her tombstone, staring at it, staring at the name carved into stone.

_Cordelia Matlock_

_1962-1984_

It was so simple…no quote, no mention of what she was. Just her name and the dates of her birth and her death. There should have been more. Maybe a quote from Poe, or a raven…something. But her parents had refused. Why, he didn't know.

"_They didn't care about her."_ A voice explained. _"They never did."_ He frowned. It was true, as cruel as it sounded. They hadn't even shed a tear during the funeral. And he knew that at the reception all they were going to be doing was acting like they were grieving. They would actually just be working on improving their status, finally free of their wild child and free to rise without the qualms of the daughter with a bastard child. That brought up another question. What about him?

Was he going to be sent away, like his grandmother had asked his mother months ago? Would his great-grandmother concede to that? She might. She had done that with his grandfather…why would he be any different? His fists grew tighter, until someone nudged his shoulder. Looking up, he saw it was his grandfather. Aries gave him a sour look, clearly wanting to be left alone, to which Andronicus ignored, grabbing his hand.

"Come along." He stated gruffily, and began to pull Aries away. He hesitated, struggling to stay near his mother's resting place, but his grandfather's grip became like a vice, his eyes a green steel.

"Men do not cry, Aries." He scolded, and it was only then that Aries realized that tears were sliding down his face. He nearly wiped his eyes, but his other arm stopped when he glanced back at Cordelia's grave. A determined frown set on his face.

"I can cry if I want to." He finally remarked, allowing the tears to slide down his face. "I'm not changing just because you want me to."

Andronicus looked about ready to smack Aries for his insolence, however when he looked up and saw others now watching him he released his grip on his grandson, snorting in disgust, before briskly walking away. It was only when both his grandfather and grandmother had walked down the hill did Aries try to wipe his eyes.

"Aries, do not insult your mother by doing what your grandfather said the moment his back is turned." A voice commented, and he turned to look to see his great-grandmother, who was staring at him kindly. "If you want to cry, then go ahead and cry."

And so he did, he went over to her, placed his face into her dress and began to cry. Quietly of course. Because he was five. And five year olds didn't cry.

At least loudly.

**SO SOME DEPRESSING STUFF :( ANYHOO...TWO MORE CHAPTERS FOR THIS READ AND REVIEW PLEASE!**


	23. BEGINNINGS

Aries looked at the large red, 4-6-0 steam engine anxiously. He was now eleven, and it was his first step to becoming an actual wizard. He flinched when a soft hand pressed against the back of his head. He looked up to see Cornelia standing there, a soft mothering smile on her face. He owed her so much. She had always been there. She hadn't needed to go back to work to raise him. Granted, with the Matlock fortune being near the same amount as Malfoy's, and with the way his she always kept her savings separate from his grandparents, and living in a small home, just enough for the two of them…they had done remarkably. She hadn't sent him away to a boarding school, instead taught him his primary classes herself. He had become immersed in the world of books, reading to escape the world that judged him, the grandparents that scorned him. Everything. And she had never judged him for it.

"Ready?"

"…I guess…"

"You guess?" Cornelia asked, looking at him amused. "Now that doesn't sound like the Aries Leonis Matlock I watched grow up."

"Well…I'm going to be away from you. And you might-"

"Aries, I'm not going to burn down the kitchen…again. Greda isn't going to let me."

"But what about your back?"

"You really think Greda is going to let me do anything strenuous?" Cornelia questioned. "She worries more than you."

"…I guess…but what if-"

"What if the sky turns to fire, and your nose falls off?" She teased, and he stopped. "Aries, your mother was no different when she first started out. Everyone is nervous for their first year." She explained. "Do not worry about me. I will be fine."

"Do you think she's proud of me?" Aries asked, glancing at his trunk. Cornelia smiled, lifting his chin up.

"She is probably the proudest she's ever been." She replied. He offered a slight smile. "Now go on, find a good seat." She ordered. He did so diligently, after placing his trunk in the appropriate place. As he walked back towards the train, he allowed himself to listen to some of the conversations.

"Oh, Neville," he heard the old woman sigh.

"Give us a look, Lee, go on."

"Now Maxine, promise me you'll be good for Remus."

That conversation earned his interest and he spotted a young woman standing there. A man, who he would presume to be this Remus, and who looked older than he actually seemed to be stood parallel to her, while next to the man, a young girl stood there, dark hair pulled partly back with bright grey eyes, and parallel to her a young boy with green eyes. The girl nodded, but seemed to be pouting.

"Why can't I go too? I mean Harry-"

"It's Harry's year, Max. You just have to wait a year, sweetheart. And I'll be teaching, so I can't really help you or be there for you if you came along. Besides, who would keep Moony company?" The woman asked. The girl glanced at him and then blushed.

"I guess..."

"Now…remember no following Remus during those times, and be polite, alright?"

"I know Mum." The girl declared, rolling her eyes, and looking downright annoyed. Funny…she had nearly the same look as he did when he grew annoyed. Instead of giving her a lecture, her mother smiled, teasingly.

"Good. Now…you do remember what I told you earlier right?" She asked. The little girl smiled brightly and almost mischievously. Remus glanced at two, an eyebrow rising.

"Alright, what did you tell her?"

"You'll find out." The woman replied, and then grinned. "Now, don't worry; I'll keep an eye on Geoffrey."

And with that the conversation lost his interest and he entered the train. He managed to find a window seat in the middle and after several minutes he spotted Cornelia, who began to wave, a bright smile on her face. Soon after a loud whistle sounded and several minutes later the train slowly began to depart. He watched and kept waving until he couldn't see his great-grandmother anymore and the whir of buildings began to appear. Sighing, he pulled his knapsack up to his lap and pulled out a worn book and opened it, beginning to read. He stayed like that for several hours, only looking up when he heard the door open up.

"Hey, you wouldn't happen to have seen a toad, would you?" the boy asked. Aries glanced at him, before shaking his head. The boy however didn't leave, and plopped down on the empty seat next to him. Aries looked at him in confusion.

"…Is there something else I can help you with?"

"Nope. I just want to sit." The brunette stated, his blue eyes staring at him curiously. "Whatcha reading?"

"…Edgar Allen Poe."

"The guy who writes Death poetry?"

"It's not all…" Aries began to defend but then stopped. "Never mind."

The other boy merely laughed. "Hey I wasn't saying it was all bad…he just centers on death a lot. Granted, if you consider his background, I guess it shouldn't be too surprising." He stated. Aries glanced at him curiously, but before he could open his mouth, the door opened again. Looking over, he frowned. This person, he _did_ know.

"Well, well. If it isn't Aries Matlock." Draco stated, staring at him. Behind him, two thickset and looked extremely mean boys stood on either side of him, looking almost like bodyguards.

"Draco." He remarked coolly. They had met once or twice when he had been dragged to the galas that his great-grandmother went to. And right off the bat, the kid seemed to be an absolute prick in his books. "What do you want?"

"Nothing really, just seeing how another pureblood is doing." Draco snidely commented. "A bastard pureblood, but a pureblood nonetheless. Are you ready for the sorting? Following in your Mummy's footsteps?"

"Wherever I get sorted, it will be because I was sorted there." Aries replied, not even annoyed by the retort.

"I guess that is a good thing, wouldn't want the Matlock bloodline dying off like your Mum would we?"

Aries's head snapped up and he stood, his eyes angry. But then-

"Hey, what happened to Twiddle Dee's finger?"

Draco looked over, clearly startled having not noticed the other boy. His eyes narrowed.

"Why do I have to answer?"

"I was just curious, Blondie. No need to get your knickers in a twist." The boy responded coolly. Draco's eyes narrowed further. "I mean, I hope he wasn't bit by a rat or anything."

The one thickset boy's eyes widened, as did the other boys.

"And if he was?"

"Doesn't he know he can get the Gastric Chill if it's not treated?" The boy asked, looking nervous. The boys looked confused. "It's a disease that causes your intestines to freeze up. And then you die a slow and painful death of starvation because they haven't figured a cure yet. And to make it even worse, it's viral, so your friends and family can't even be near you because you might pass it to them. Shameful really." He stated with a sigh. All three of the boys' eyes had widened, and then they hurriedly left. Aries continued to stare before a loud snort was heard and he stared at the boy.

"They're dumb as shit…you would think they would know Gastric Chill isn't anything." He remarked in amusement.

"…Why did you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Lie to get them out of here. Why?"

"Because they shouldn't have said something like that, especially since it was clearly meant to upset you." He replied with a shrug. "Anyway, I better head back to the section I was in before Adele sends a search party after me…" He stated and then looked at Aries, and raised his hand. "Aidan Fletcher."

Aries looked at his hand and then offered a slight grin, and then gripped Aidan's hand, watching as a bright smile crossed Aidan's face, shaking it.

"Aries Matlock."

* * *

"Matlock, Aries!"

Aries walked up the front steps of the dining hall, and sat on the stool, staring out into the crowd, which were all watching him. He spotted Aidan sitting at the Ravenclaw table, grinning broadly, before the hat was placed over his head.

"_**Ah…the child of two Slytherins…but you certainly aren't cunning enough to be in that house."**_

"_Good."_

"_**Good? I can see that both sides of your family have been in Slytherin for generations."**_

"_I'm not as predictable as my family, nor do I want to be."_ Aries thought. _"I don't want anything to do with a house that destroyed my family. I don't want to live up to their reputation. It is my life, therefore I should legally be allowed to not join that house."_

"_**Ah…a strong will…I see you inherited that from both of your parents."**_

He wouldn't know. Except for his mother, he knew nothing about his father…but there was no need to tell the hat that.

"_**With the rebellious spirit of your mother, y**__**ou would certainly make an interesting addition to Gryffindor, however…though you have a brave heart…you have a stronger intellectual mind. So I shall ask for you to answer these questions:**_

_**What are books?**_

"_Worlds."_

_**And what is a library?**_

He smiled at this question. _"A galaxy."_

"_**You?"**_

"_A traveler, with no set goal other than to learn."_

_**The school?**_

"_A broom."_

The hat was silent and then let a chuckle out.

"_**You remind me very much of a woman I knew long ago. You, I shall sort into her house."**_

"RAVENCLAW!"

The said table began to cheer loudly as Aries hopped off, walking over and plopping over next to Aidan, who grinned brightly.

"Alright! Had me worried there for a little while." Aidan declared with a toothy grin. Aries smirked, and glanced at the girl next to him, who was staring at him with honey colored eyes.

"And you are?"

The girl blushed and then looked away hotly, with a huff. Aidan chuckled and pointed to her.

"This Adele Gelson."

"I can say my own name, Aidan!" She hissed out angrily. Aidan shrugged and stuck his tongue out at her, and she looked about ready to beat his head in. Aries smiled and then continued watching as Harry Potter, the Harry Potter, was sorted into Gryffindor. He noted that one of the teachers, the brunette woman he saw at the train station, seemed to be clapping the loudest, as was a member of his own house: a blonde boy with blue eyes. He smiled and glanced around, staring at the ceiling and the floating candles.

Yes…he would do perfectly fine here.

It was after all in his blood.

**TADA! ONE MORE CHAPTER AND THEN THIS FANFIC IS OVER X3 AND THE LAST ONE WILL BE A BITTER SWEET ONE...I GUESS.  
**


	24. FALLEN TIME

It was quiet. So quiet. There was no pain…no agony. In the empty blackness a form lay on the ground, floating aimlessly.

"So…this is what death is like." Cordelia thought as she lay motionless, curled on the ground. "It's not that bad…" She concluded. "It's so quiet. Death."

That was what she had wanted for years when she was younger…hadn't she? To be alone in the quiet, to not be judged for what she was. Besides…this death hadn't been an unprepared death. She had been expecting it for weeks…maybe years…and yet, her heart seemed to disagree with her, seizing up in fear.

"You knew this was going to happen." She scolded herself as she forced herself into a sitting position, staring at her hands. She didn't understand why she had regressed back to when she was 19, but she didn't care. She was dead. It was inevitable. Everyone was bound to die at some time…some lived for ages...others like her were discarded and their lives were cut short. Yet this wasn't what she had expected. Endless darkness. She had heard of the muggle version of what they called heaven, which was pure white. Though some of the ideas of their version of heaven was ludicrous, there were some ideals she had wondered that she would have been able to see.

Maybe this was hell…but then again, this didn't meet any type of version of hell she had ever read or thought about. Why…why couldn't her death actually have something to show for? She had been prepared for this.

"You knew this was going to happen. You prepared yourself. You prepared Aries…Aries…Oh Merlin."

It was like a slap in the face. She stared at the darkness surrounding her, the burning in her eyes growing and finally the tears that had been prickling in the corners of her eyes cascaded down her face, as a dry sob tore out her throat.

"My baby."

He still needed her. And yet she wasn't there for him. Even if she hadn't had a choice. He was alone. She covered her face, trying desperately to staunch the tears from flowing.

"He's only a baby! He can't be by himself! He needs me!" She cried out desperately, as though someone could hear her plea. But no one did. The weight of what had happened became all too real, and she felt the darkness swirling around her, as though it meant to engulf her very being. Her tears slid down faster and harder on her cheeks as loud sobs echoed. "I-I abandoned him…He'll grow up alone because of me."

"No he won't."

The voice startled her. Dimly, she thought that she recognized the voice, but she couldn't be sure. She stiffened, looking around for the person who had called out. But it seemed the darkness had blinded her, as she found no source. Then she blinked, her eyes narrowing in the distance. A sphere…a hazy sphere…but a sphere nonetheless had seemed to pierce the darkness. And it began to grow, pushing the darkness away, wiping it backwards. Cordelia stared at the entrance of the light sideways, only turning when the light had expanded enough to look like a road surrounded by darkness, beyond the road of light, it had shot vertically up. It was though a gate had been partially opened, allowing the light to stream in through the crack.

But it wasn't the light that she now stared at, as more cracks began to appear and banish the suffocating darkness away. It was the figure that stood in the light, his figure shadowed by the bright rays.

"It's okay. He'll grow up strong and loved. And it's all thanks to you."

Slowly she turned, staring at the figure with wide eyes. She recognized that voice. The deep tenor that she had fallen in love with so many years ago. Slowly she covered her mouth in shock at the recognition, tears sliding down her face as a sob sounded. The light had prevailed, and the darkness began to seep away as the light washed over her.

He hadn't changed a bit.

"I'm so proud of you…Cordelia."

She struggled to stand, as though she was a baby and was relearning how to walk. She stumbled a few moments, before she began to run towards the figure, a bright smile that she believed she had never given other than around their son gracing her face, her arms outstretched.

Regulus stood there, a smile on his face that she had only seen whenever she had been with him. He was wearing a grey robe over his clothes, his arms outstretched. She all but tackled him, almost fearful for a split second that the moment she would run into his arms, he would disappear and she would be in the darkness again.

But he didn't. He wrapped his arms around her and spun her. Even when he set her down, she didn't move, just clutching him, murmuring his name over and over again.

"I missed you." She whispered, looking up at him. His eyes were kind, considerate. They were no longer plagued with the guilt that he had dragged around for the years that she had known him, the pain that been masked in the grey eyes. "I missed you so much."

"I know. I know." He murmured kissing her forehead again and again, drawing her close. "And I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I never wanted any of this to happen."

She let out a soft laugh, nuzzling his chest.

"You've been working hard all this time." He murmured softly. "I'm sorry…for leaving you like that."

"It is alright." She murmured in response.

"I was always watching over you. You know that right?" She nodded in answer, a smile on her face. He traced her cheek, and gave her a kind smile in return. "You raised our son wonderfully."

She shook her head, still smiling, though slightly pained and bitter. "No I didn't. I made only mistakes."

"No you didn't." He replied calmly, tracing her face with his hands, cupping it with them. "Aries grew up nicely."

"I wanted to make you proud to call him your son." She whispered. He let out a laugh, and she trembled. How she missed that laugh. He gently moved his thumbs under her eyes, and she looked at him. He was smiling brightly and she felt her insides warm.

"You and he made me the proudest man in the world." He whispered, drawing her close. She smiled before pulling herself to him, and meeting him halfway, kissed him. It had been so long, and she had missed this. He pulled her close, gripping the back of her skull tightly as she wove her arms around his neck.

She would always miss Aries. Terribly. But she knew he would be alright. He would make friends that she and Regulus had never had. He was strong-willed, much more than she had ever been in her teenage years. Things would work out for him. She knew it. Besides…she would always watch him throughout his life. Even if she couldn't be seen by him, she would always be there. And now she wouldn't be alone. He would be there with her.

"Let's go." He whispered against her mouth when they finally parted. She nodded, and together hand in hand, the pair walked into the blinding light.

Hand in hand. Together again.

_There is a story of a boy and a girl, and the makings of their lives together of something so strange that it would seem to be impossible, or the story of a fairy tale._

_But it was their story nonetheless._

_They met during the summer and fell in love in those three years that they had. But they were a pair of star-crossed lovers, their fates already delivered. Still, they clung to each other, treasured those memories that they possessed of each other. During life and even during death, their hearts were each other's and they waited diligently to be reunited._

_For they were lovers of a fallen time, destined to be separated in life._

_But united in death._

**AND THAT MY FRIENDS IS THE END OF FALLEN TIME. IT'S BEEN FUN :) HOPE YOU GUYS ENJOYED READING IT AS MUCH AS I ENJOYED WRITING IT. A SHOUTOUT TO :  
**

**FOREVER SIRIUSLY SIRIUS**

**KERRUB7**

**CHASINGHOPE19**

**THE PHANTOMISMYLOVE**

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**SARA253XXX**

**DESARAE**

**APOCOCLIPS**

**SPLENDORA-C.A.M-MCGONAGALL**

**AND**

**sPaRkzZz**

**THANK YOU ALL FOR REVIEWING. AND THANK YOU ALL FOR READING :)**


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